Mission: Not Happening
by skyisthelimit
Summary: He's everything she hates. She's everything he hasn't known. They're double-0, government agents. He has painful, dark memories. She has a painful, dark past. They're constantly in danger. But can they be in love? AU. AH. ExB.
1. Preface

**A/N: Here's the Preface!**

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**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is the great and lucky owner of Twilight!  
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**Title: **_**Mission: Not Happening**_

Official summary: Sometimes, life isn't fair. This was one of those times. When you're a double 0 agent secretly trained by other government agents at a top notch school, you don't take crap from anybody when you go on a mission. Unless they're Edward Cullen. AU. AH. ExB. __

Unofficial summary: Ethica Requiem University and Latreia Volturi University were sibling schools. One for men, and one for women. They were high class and you'd have to be pretty special to get into them. Oh, not to mention they trained special agents for the government. Bella and Edward are the two school's best agents, and are even at double 0 status even though they're still in school. And now, on an exchange program that Bella, Rosalie, and Alice didn't even sign up for, Bella became Edward's guide. Great opportunity right? Too bad Edward has a problem with arrogance and, well, sticking to one woman for more than a few hours.

_**Preface**_:

Anger flowed through my veins, and I could feel my temper coming through. Quickly, I took deep breaths and channeled that anger the my senses, to my focus…

I decided this fight had gone on long enough.

He poised for a punch, and when he did let his fist loose, I turned my head so that it rushed past me. When his arm became fully extended from the momentum, I grabbed it, turned my back to him with his arm still in my grasp and levered on my shoulder, and pulled. Quick as a flash, I had him on the ground, with me straddling his torso, and one of my arms extended so that two of my fingers were on his neck directly beneath his jaw, my sharpened nails digging in to the skin there. He tilted his face up slightly in reaction and stared at me in disbelief.

"You're right," I said coldly, locking my gaze on to his eyes and holding it there. "My temper is my weakness. But I already knew that. I figured it out myself and was able to train to do something about it. Now, my anger becomes my strength, because now I can channel the adrenaline that comes from fury to my focus and use it to enhance my body's senses and abilities.

"But you, you don't even realize what your weakness is. Correction, weaknesses. So I'll tell you. You're arrogant, over confident, and manipulative. That last one could be useful, as _persuasion_, but you choose to use it for wasteful, stupid, and wrong things. You use it on women, not giving a damn about their side. Despicable," I spat.

I continued, "All three is what gets your guard down, and distorts your perspective. That's dangerous, especially in our line of work. And until you conquer them…"

I leaned in to get right in front of his face and said with dead seriousness, "You'll get yourself killed."


	2. Back to School with a Twist

_A/N: Hey! I know I said I needed a beta, and I still need one! To the few who did offer, THANK YOU, but I'm just looking for people with experience. If you're still interested, why not send me a sample of your work? Then I can really consider you. Thank you again! And I DO STILL NEED A BETA!_

_Anyway, this is the first chapter, un beta'd, so if they're typos or spelling/grammar mistakes, I'm sorry. Feel free to point them out in a review!_

_Anyway, I hope you like the story!_

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Mission: Not Happening:

**Note: All the scientific stuff is not true. Made up by knowledge of basic organic chemistry and Internet to make it sound scientific**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Twilight. I would LOVE to own Edward, though! ; )**

Chapter 1: Back to School with a twist

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_Welcome to Ethica Requiem University for Ladies_

As I walked pass the sign at the entrance to the campus, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. I was home.

This past summer had been pure torture. Not that any time back at that hellish orphanage wasn't. This is exactly why I always stay here, at the university, during weekends and breaks, but I had no choice but to go back during the summer. And I hated it. I hated that every time I went back, I was either ignored or ogled like a circus freak. I hated the pity and slight repulsion I always found in the eyes of the employees there. And most of all, I hated that I couldn't do anything that reminded me of my real home, ERU. Not that the orphanage didn't allow me. It was actually ERU that forbade it. The orphanage wouldn't even know what I was referring to, and I had a feeling if they did know, they wouldn't allow it either. And both sides have/ would have good reasons to.

I pushed the horrid memories to the back of my mind and instead took in the scene before me.

ERU was a collection of buildings that formed a large rectangle, with all the buildings facing inward. In the center, there was a large courtyard, complete with a fountain, benches, various gardens, and sculptures (ERU was known for having a lot of money. What people don't know is that, well, it's even more than they would even dream). The buildings, though differing in size and style, were all built from the same, rich brown colored brick. Directly across from the entrance was a massive building, with white marble columns decorating the front and large glass windows. The head building.

After taking in the sight of my home, I took in what the other girls, my family, were doing. Some were just lying around in the courtyard, trying to get in a few more moments of relaxation before the work began. Others were sitting under trees, chatting and catching up. Some had even took out their laptops and had begun working already.

Just as I finished taking in every little detail, I heard a wonderfully familiar voice call out, "Bella!"

A short, pixie-like girl who could pass off as the Energizer Bunny ran up to me, or more like danced.

"Hey Alice," I grinned as I waited for her to catch up.

"Oh Bella, it's so good to be back!" she gushed once she reached me. "I can't wait for the year to start back up! And you and I, not to mention Rose, have so much catching up to do!"

I nodded, smiling, but I also gave her a warning look, reminding her that we couldn't discuss too much 'outside'.

I could tell she got it, though she didn't visibly react to it, just like she and everyone else at ERU were trained to do. Instead, she just linked her arm though mind and said, "Come on! Let's go inside and put away our stuff. I'm pretty sure Rose is already back."

My smile grew bigger and I said, "Sure, but it's bag. As you can see, I only have one bag," as we set off to the dorms. I gestured to the duffel bag that hung on one of my shoulders.

Alice rolled her eyes. "And I still don't know how."

"You know I don't take a lot of stuff to the orphanage." I kept most of my stuff at the dorm I lived in since freshman year (everyone lived in the same dorm room until senior year, where they'd get a single, like Rose).

"You still need clothes. I could never fit two months worth of clothes into just one measly bag." It was true. Her tiny self was rolling two large suitcases that each had a duffel bag strapped on top. She was even carrying _another_ bag on her shoulder.

"That's because you have an outfit for every day of the month. And I swear you even have a schedule of when to wear them too," I teased.

"Exactly," Alice responded without missing a beat.

By now, we were approaching the doors to one of the dorm buildings. I knew that once we were safely inside, we would starting talking about 'real' things. Both of us slid our student ID's though the slot and stepped through the doors. There. Safely in right? Wrong.

Once we were through the 'normal college door' as ERU girls dubbed it, we were faced with a large titanium set of doors, which I knew to be 3 cm thick. _These_ set of doors would require a bit more verification than just a student ID card. Five, to be exact. In fact, next to the doors there were 5 scanners, all different types.

Alice gestured me to go first. I walked to the first scanner and pressed a camouflaged button in the upper right hand corner and stepped back. A wide beam of blue light flashed out and moved up and down me. A full body scanner, to ensure I was female (no male was ever allowed in the dorms). The light retracted and the button that I had pressed, the color of the steel around it before, turned green.

I went to the next scanner and pressed another button, this time in the lower left. A tiny rod popped out, and, if looked at closely, you could see a tiny hole at the end of it. This was the microphone for the voice recognition scanner. I said into it clearly "Isabella Marie Swan." The button turned green.

At the next scanner, I pressed the button in the lower left corner. A lot of steel slid up to reveal a grid scanner for fingerprints. I pressed my middle finger lightly to it and waited as a blue light quickly moved up and down my print. Again, the button turned green.

I moved to the next scanner and pressed the button on the upper left corner. Quickly, I positioned one of my chocolate brown eyes in front of it, opening it wide. A blue light shot out like the body scan, but instead moved up and down my iris. The light turned green.

Finally, I went to the last scanner and pressed the button in the center. A tray popped out with a cylindrical container. I plucked one of my hairs, put it inside the container, put the lid on it, put it back on the tray, and closed the tray. A DNA tester. The button turned green and the titanium doors creaked open.

I grinned at the familiarity of what I had done, before stepping quickly through the doors. There was another scanner between the doorway so that once I was through, the doors slammed shut behind me.

Why do we have such high-tech security? Simple. ERU is a training school for government secret agents, or spies.

I'm not kidding.

The buildings that looked separate on the outside were actually on top of the _real_ school, which is below ground. Only the 'normal' stuff and the dorms were above ground, to help with our facade. Still though, security even above ground was tight.

What am I doing at a spy school? Well, I'm a field agent (though still in training). Agent 006 to be exact. I'm the first woman to receive a double 0 status while still in school (I got it last year). Basically, that means I'm top of the class and all the classes before now. I'm 'legendary', but not really. My classmates don't treat me differently and I don't flaunt it. But hey, I still appreciate it. And before you asked, no, I'm not colleagues with James Bond. He's a British agent, remember (though I have met him)?

Being a field agent is tough, especially on missions where your life is on the line. However, I still love my job/training. And I admit, I'm good.

The ironic thing? I'm as klutzy as a two-legged giraffe.

Proof? Well, I just tripped over the rug that's right outside the doors as I came through. And there was no ripple or fold.

How can I be a field agent when I'm a klutz? Well, it's something about when I go on missions. I just get so focused and steady. I know, that's not consistent of me, but hey, it's worked so far.

As I waited for Alice, who was undoubtedly doing the same thing I just did, I saw Angela walk up to me. She was the timid, reserved type, but still very nice and was a good friend.

"Hey Bella," she smiled, "How was your summer?"

"Same old, same old," I grinned, "Of course, 'same old' interprets to 'horrible' in my life. Yours?"

"Fine. It's nice to be back though."

"You said it," I replied.

"And I can't wait to get back to the lab." Angela's eyes lit up as she said it and I chuckled.

"Yea, Angela, of course," I teased. Angela wasn't a field agent. She's a lab tech, and a darn good one. And no, that's not a fancy way of saying 'nerd'. At ERU, we don't consider lab techs as 'nerds' or 'geeks'. There is no such thing here, because every single person here is just as good as the rest. It's just that some weren't cut out for the field. Angela was one of them, but her job at the lab was just as important. We field agents depend on lab techs. Believe me, I know. I have a great respect for all lab techs, or LT's.

Speaking of, Alice had just walked through the door. Alice was also a lab tech, though she does sometime get fieldwork, mainly because of her height, which can be pretty crucial depending on the mission. But she enjoyed the lab more, she told me. I'm glad of it, because I trusted her the most when I was in the field (Angela was pretty close). She has a genius IQ of 201 and is one of my best and first friends.

"Hey Angela!" she said jovially. "I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get my hands on one of ERU's computers. I need to finish designing my new project. Haven't decided a name for it yet, though. It still has a few kinks to work out."

"What is it?" Angela asked curiously.

"It's a fingerprint wall scaling device. Basically, it would mold and change to the wielder's fingerprint, and would allow the wearer to scale vertical surfaces. You can turn it on and off by touching a sensor that reacts to only your fingerprint. The sensor would be anything, from a belt to an earring," Alice explained.

Angela's eyes lit up in interest. "What are you using to manipulate the amino acids to make the fingerprint?" Angela eagerly asked. I rolled my eyes slightly. Geniuses.

"Well, it's—" Alice began.

I cut in. "Alice, we need to unpack. And didn't you want to see Rose?"

"Oh right. I'll talk to you later, Ange. I'll tell you how I combine argininosuccinate synthetase with a mixture of different lipids and stuff," Alice chirped. Geez, you'd never guess her obsession with shopping.

"'K! Oh, I almost forgot. Bella," Angela turned to me, "The head wants to see you in her office."

I frowned. "A mission already? I just got back."

Angela shrugged. "Makes me even more glad I'm an LT. See you guys later." She waved before walking away.

I was still frowning slightly as I turned to Alice. "That's odd. They usually wait a couple weeks before sending anyone out."

"Maybe it's not a mission," Alice hedged.

"Then what is it?"

"Beats me."

We headed to our dorm and punched in our code (the actual dorm rooms had less security, since you weren't supposed to put anything of real or top secret value in them). We quickly unpacked (didn't take too long for me), catching up with each other at the same time. Then we headed for Rose's dorm, which was literally right across the hall, and knocked.

Suddenly, we heard a crash and "Shit! Fuck! Dammit!" Well, this definitely was Rose's dorm.

The door opened to reveal a sheepish stunning tall blonde in front of us.

"Hey guys," she greeted, pulling us into a hug.

We hugged back before I went, "Do I want to know what the crash was?"

"Nothing. I just had trouble unpacking my bathroom stuff. I dropped the hair iron set I got. Man, I'm glad to have a single this year. My roommate was nice and all, but the bathrooms are so much bigger and have _so_ many more outlets…"

Alice's eyes lit up. "We are _so_ doing makeovers at your place."

Rose nodded seriously, "Of course."

I just rolled my eyes.

"Well, come on in!" Rose invited, gesturing to her single dorm.

"Sorry, I can't. The head wants to see me, apparently," I said apologetically.

Rose furrowed her brow. "A mission already?"

"That's what I said," I shrugged. "How bout I meet you two at our spot in an hour?"

"Sounds good, Bella. Be ready to spill! If you can, that is," Alice said (sometimes, missions were too confidential to share with even our closest comrades).

"Don't I always?"

"Yeah, I guess you do," Rose grinned before adding, "Except when it comes to those _personal_ relationships, if you know what I mean." She winked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. See you guys in an hour," I said before walking to the elevator.

The 'elevator' was actually a portrait of the founder of ERU, Augustine Challen. I placed my palm on hers, and while it scanned it, her eyes projected out to do a retina scan also. Once both scans were complete, her eyes glowed green and beside me, a portion of the wall slid open to reveal the elevator. I stepped in and punched my code. Then I pressed the floor B2. The doors dinged shut and the elevator zoomed 20 ft down to B2.

I briskly walked to the head mistress's office, which was below the head building. Next to the door, there were three scanners. I did the first two (retina and palm scanners), then a mic popped out of the third, much like the scanner before the dorms, except this time, a robotic female's voice said from it, "State your name, agent number, code, and business."

I spoke clearly, "Isabella Marie Swan. Agent 006. Code 25681. Requested by headmistress to be seen in office."

The doorknob clicked. I turned it and entered.

Inside, there were two people: Headmistress Dwyer and a tall man.

Said man was, well, drop dead gorgeous. A Greek god. He looked about my age, with coppery disheveled hair and stunning green eyes that made me melt. His face had a certain boyish yet handsome look in his face, with sharp chiseled features. He was well built, but not too bulky. All in all, perfection. I was completely floored.

"Ah, Ms. Swan. I've been waiting. Meet Edward Cullen. Mr. Cullen, this is Isabella Swan. She is your exchange partner, and for now, your guide."

_What?_

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_A/N: Well, what do you think? Constructive criticism is always welcome!  
_

_We'll see more of Edward (swoon) next chapter. Keep in mind that Edward is slightly OOC in the beginning for this one (yes, it's Edward the player)_

_Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!_

_PLEASE REVIEW!_


	3. Multiple Personality Disorders

_A/N: Hi! I'm back!_

_I STILL NEED A BETA! So, please, if anyone's interested?_

_Thank you so much for your reviews! I really appreciate it! I hope you like the second chapter! Remember, it's unbeta'd, so there might be typos. Feel free to point them out to me so I can fix it!_

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**Disclaimer: Sadly, do not own. Sigh...**

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Chapter 2: Multiple Personality Disorders

Bella and Edward's schedule:

1. Advance Sciences 4 (Shared with Alice and Rose)

2. Advance Technology 4 (Shared with Alice)

3. Physical Training 4

4. Social Customs 3 (Shared with Alice)

5. Lunch

6. Stealth and Covert Operations 4 (Shared with Rose)

7. Weapons and Equipment 4 (Shared with Rose)

8. Double 0 training (S)

_A/N: I'm going to start posting everyone's schedule. First is Bella and Edward's. Next is Alice and Jasper's, then Rose and Emmett. If you don't get what I'm saying in the schedule explanation, you'll get it later, after you've seen all the schedules. Thanks again!_

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I blinked. _Guide? Edward Cullen? GUIDE?_ These were the thoughts in my head. Before I could voice them, however, 'Mr. Cullen' over there spoke.

"Pleasure to meet you, Isabella. I've heard a lot about you." He held his hand out to shake.

"Bella." I said. I didn't like Isabella too much. It would be even worse coming out of _his_ mouth.

"Then you can call me Edward," he grinned.

I ignored him. "Same goes for you, Mr. Cullen," I said bluntly. It was true. Cullen was as much as a 'legend' as I was.

"Edward. And really? What have you heard?"

A lot. "Cullen, you really do not want to get me started."

"Edward. And it can't be that bad," he said, but I could tell that here was arrogance underneath that last sentence. And I could also tell that he meant, 'She can't really know that much.' Typical. And expected. Especially from him.

Luckily, headmistress Dwyer cut in, "Mr. Cullen, she's right. You do not want to get her started. At least, not right now. We do not have the time. I'm also fairly certain that some of the information she would rattle off is not things you would want me to hear. Am I right, Ms. Swan?"

Oh yeah. More than right.

I just nodded.

Cullen nodded in also, but he still held that air of arrogance. _Ass_.

Edward Cullen, a 'legend' like me. He's a senior as of now, and like me, he received a double 0 status in sophomore year, making it a year before I got mine (I was a freshman when he was a sophomore). He's very intelligent and very admired, and like I described before, insanely good looking. But he's also known (to me at least) to be a playboy, as well as arrogant, proud, conceited, cocky, and the list goes on. I hadn't officially met him until now, but I had witnessed enough of these characteristics during his and his classmates' short visits here, as well as ERU's visits to his school to know that I did not like him. At all. Unfortunately, me, Rose, and Alice were the only ones who feels that way. All my other ERU sisters still swooned over him. Ugh.

I turned to the headmistress. There was no way I'd be _this_ man's guide.

"Headmistress Dwyer. I thought I heard you mention 'guide'. Did I hear incorrectly?" Please tell me I did.

"No, you did not," she answered truthfully, albeit not the answer I wanted to hear.

Dang. I swallowed. "Please elaborate?" I asked, trying to keep my tone polite.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward smirk. "You mean, you don't know about the exchange program?" he said, a bit mockingly.

I whipped my head to face him, my eyes cold. "No, Cullen, I am aware of the exchange program. However, I do not see its relevance," I said, struggling to remain calm.

"How many times to I have to tell you to call me Edward?"

I ignored him. Instead, I pondered his words before. The exchange program? Just before the summer, ERU announced that there would be an exchange program available to juniors and seniors the following school year. Alice, Rose, and I did not sign up. We were not interested in spending a semester at Latreia Volturi University, our brother school (LVU was almost exactly like ERU, except for boys). Our visits there were dull and miserable enough. So what did the exchange program have to do with this?

Headmistress Dwyer answered my question, "Well, Ms. Swan, this is the exchange program. I mean Mr. Cullen here is one of the three boys that will be spending a semester here."

"Then wouldn't it be more prudent if one of the girls that will be attending LVU next semester be a guide?" I asked, still confused.

"It would be," Dwyer agreed, "That's why you are doing it."

I did a double take. "Excuse me?"

"You, Ms. Hale, and Ms. Brandon will be guides for Mr. Edward Cullen here, Mr. Emmett Cullen, and Mr. Jasper Cullen, LVU's representatives. Then, next semester, the three of you will be ERU's representatives in the exchange program and will attend LVU."

That couldn't be right!

"There must a mistake," I cleared up, "Rose, Alice, and I did not sign up for the program!"

"I know you didn't. But when LVU decided to send the Cullens, we decided it was reasonable to send people of equal status."

"Equal status?"

Dwyer sighed. "Mr. Edward is LVU's best field agent. Mr. Emmett is right underneath him. Mr. Jasper is their best laboratory technician." She looked me straight in the eye. "Ms. Swan, whether you admit it or not, you are ERU's best field agent, despite being a junior. Ms. Hale is our second best, and Ms. Brandon is our best laboratory technician. See the reasoning?"

I sighed myself, seeing it, alright. "Is the reasoning absolutely necessary?" I asked, still looking for a way out.

"Yes."

I sighed again, resigned. "Very well. I just have one more question."

Dwyer raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a particular reason why I must be _this_ Cullen's guide? Specifically?" I said. This was my last hope.

Dwyer's lips twitched, but she still reminded me firmly, "Equal status, Ms. Swan."

My last hope gone, I surrendered, reluctantly nodding my head.

Throughout this whole exchange, Edward had been smirking, amused. I turned and gave him an icy glare. He seemed slightly taken aback.

"You are dismissed," Dwyer told us, "Ms. Hale and Mr. Emmett should be here soon."

I nodded before heading out, grabbing one of the many folders that were meant for tours, this one saying "EDWARD CULLEN" on the front. I gestured Edward to follow. He did.

As we walked to the elevator, he said, "Can you start now?"

I knew what he was referring to. "You sure you want me to?" I asked.

He nodded confidently.

I rolled my eyes before stopping and turning to look at him. He had stopped too, looking cocky.

I looked directly into his green eyes and began.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Agent 005. Birthday: June 20th 1987. Family: Son of Edward Sr. and Elizabeth Masen, who both died due to confidential circumstances on June 19th, 1993. Adopted son of Carlisle Cullen, the medical head and advisor to the USAU (A/N: Undeground Special Agents Unit – the unit Bella and Edward and the gang are a part of), and Esme Cullen, head of the Social Relations Department of USAU. Adopted brother to Emmett McCarty Cullen and Jasper Whitlock Cullen, both of whom were adopted as well. Special Facts: Achieved double 0 status during second year of training, and is the first to every do so. IQ of 179. Missions as of June 2008: 107, all successful. Personal Statistics: known as a playboy. Evidence being number of women that Subject had been seen intimately with, which is 48. Names of these women are Ta—" At this point he cut me off.

"That's enough. I get it." He looked impressed.

I rolled my eyes. "I warned you."

"How did you know all that?"

"I was bored one summer," I shrugged, "So I hacked into LVU's computer mainframe and just looked over everyone's files. Photographic memory did the rest."

He blinked at me. "Impossible."

"Think what you want, then. Just know that if you do, it won't be the truth," I said before turning away to face the elevator.

Not giving him a chance to reply, I said, "We might as well begin the tour. And we start with the elevator."

"Elevator?" he said.

"Every door you will open will have some sort of verification scanner. The elevator is no exception, plus more. I assume you're already in the system?"

He nodded.

"When you push the button to call the elevator, the button will also scan your finger print. Based on the person, the elevator will leave certain floors available."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that, say if you're Earl, and Earl only has access to floors B1 to B3, then the elevator will only show buttons for B1 to B3." I explained slowly.

"I got that. I meant what does that mean to me?" he said, probably arrogantly assuming that he had access to all floors. _Jerk._

I rolled my eyes. "I'm telling you this so that when you use the elevator, and only see the buttons for B1 and B2 on the touch screen, you won't think those are the only sublevel floors we have. Infact—" I pushed the button. After a quick second, the doors opened, and I pulled him inside. "—there are seven," I finished, pointing to the eight buttons on the touch screen that served as a panel (one was for the main level).

I pulled him back out and the elevator closed.

"And I won't be seeing that when I push the button?" he asked, frowning.

I took a step back and said, "Go see for yourself."

He pushed the button and stepped in. His frown deepened. I followed him inside and the doors closed.

"There's only three buttons," he accused.

"Were you not listening to my Earl scenario?" I said, exasperated.

"No."

"Good, so you should understand. Like a freshman, you only have access to the main level, B1, and B2. B1 is where classes are, and B2 is where standard staff offices are."

"I don't have access to everything?" Wow. For a double 0 agent, he's taking a long time to get this through his head.

"No. That's what I've been telling you. You'll _earn_ access to the rest of the floors throughout your semester here, just like everyone else. But I wouldn't get you hopes too high. It takes usually 3 years to get complete access."

"How many did it take you?"

"One."

He nodded, and I saw a look of determination in his eyes. I knew that look. Every guy with an ego has it. He thought he was going to beat my time span. Well, he was in for a reality check.

I let it go for now, and instead pulled out an envelop from my tour folder. I wasn't new to giving people tours. I did it for freshman all the time.

"On the main floor, sublevel elevators are concealed, naturally. Each scanner for each elevator is slightly different, and ERU has 57 of them, all in different places. In this envelope is a list of elevators you have access to and how to open each one." I handed a manila envelope to him. "Be warned. You have 45 seconds to memorize its contents from the moment it comes into contact with oxygen before the writing well disappear."

He nodded, quickly opened the envelope, and pulled out a paper. I watched as he calmly read over the paper. About 45 seconds later, he gave the paper back to me. It was blank.

"Did you get everything?" I asked as I held the paper to my watch.

He smirked an nodded. "You're not the only one with photographic memory."

I sighed at his typical cockiness as I pushed a button on my watch, releasing a spark that immediately set the paper to fire. When the flames got closer to my hand, I let the paper drop and watched it incinerate as it floated down. Its ashes fell to the ground.

I pressed another button and said to the watch "Clean up, elevator 14," before turning to glare at Agent 005 over there. "I only asked if you got everything, not for a speech."

The smirk stayed in place. I sighed again before gesturing to the three buttons. "Press main floor please."

"Why don't you?"

"There's a reason the elevator scans your fingerprint, just as there's a reason the buttons are on a touch screen."

"Right," he replied before pressing the button that said "MF"

As the elevator zoomed up 20 ft, I said, "I'm guessing that your schedule is the same as mine?"

He nodded.

"Fine. Tomorrow morning, at 0745 hours sharp, I'll meet you outside your dorm building," I gave him a map of the school's main floor (since that isn't secret, the ink is permanent). "It should be marked there."

He nodded again.

"Are you allowed in the girls dorm?"

"Headmistress Dwyer said with the permission of my guide, which is you," he replied.

"This elevator leads to the girls dorm. The elevator knows you're male, so it will probably entrap us as soon as we step out. Stay calm, okay?" the elevator slowed to a stop.

"I'm always calm." _Again_ with the cockiness. Urgh.

I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

The elevator doors opened and we stepped out. As I predicted, steel bars raised up quickly, enclosing us.

Edward raised a brow, as if to say 'This is it?'

"I know this is meager, but there is nothing important up here, so security is less tight. This is just to give girls privacy," I explained.

I walked to a certain bar and pressed a concealed button/scanner. I scanned my fingerprint and a microphone popped out.

I said into it, "Edward Anthony Masen Cullen is present with permission from his guide, Isabella Marie Swan, to enter the girls dormitory."

The button turned green and the steel bars receded.

"Come on," I said.

He followed as I led him out of the dorms.

"What, no tour of this place?" he asked innocently. Too innocently.

I glared at him. "No, not this particular place."

We exited into the courtyard. "I'll give you a quick tour of the main level, but you can find most things on this floor with your map. Then I'll give you a more detailed tour of B1," I told him.

"Fine with me," he shrugged.

"That building," I pointed to a short, rectangular building next to the girls dorm, "is where your dorm is. The big building over there," I gestured to the head building, "is where the food court and student lounge is. Over there," I pointed to a rather tall building with class around the first floor, "is the 'normal' gym. Underneath it are our specialized training facilities…" I kept going on about the other buildings; telling how in a IND (in the dark) person came unexpectedly, the seats and desks of each class would rays up to the main floor, where the 'normal' classrooms were.

After I finished my brief overview, I took him to another sublevel elevator and we went down to B1. I explained how the classroom's location usually correlated with the 'normal' classroom above. Like the training facilities and the 'normal' gym. I showed him where our classes in particular were and a brief overview of the class.

"I'm taking senior classes, except for Social Customs, which you haven't ever had anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem for you," I had said.

He nodded and said, "That's good. Any chance I'll see my brothers in my classes?"

"Well, since Jasper's with Alice, you'll see them first four periods, except period three. You'll see Rose and Emmett after lunch for 7th and 8th period, as well as first. Alice is taking senior classes also, except for PT (A/N: aka Physical Training). It's just coincidence that we ended up in the same periods for the classes we have together, and coincidence that we ended up with Rose first period. Well not complete coincidence. They tend to group people by rank, though not always" I answered.

"I thought Alice was a LT," Edward said.

"She is. That's why we only have morning classes with her, and why she's in PT 3, while we're in PT 4. General classes are in the morning, and yes, PT is a general course. It isn't specialized, it's just enough to keep you in shape, because you never what might happen. Besides, Alice does go on field mission once in a while. After lunch, she'll do LT courses. That's why we're with Rose so much after lunch too. Rose is a field agent, too, and all four of us will have field agent training in the afternoon together. Except for 8th period. That's when you and I go to double 0 training. You took that last year, didn't you?" I asked Edward.

He nodded. "I liked it a lot. My favorite class, even though it's technically not a class."

"Well, it'll be my first year in the class, so I guess then, it'll be you being the guide," I grinned. I sort of looked forward to that. Though he's a jerk, there's no denying that he's a phenomenal field agent, and I respect him in that area.

He smiled back. A true smile, not a smirk. I was floored of a second. He had the most dazzling crooked smile in existence, and for a moment my mind went blank. When I snapped out of it, my heart was beating faster and I was actually flustered. _Me_. Thankfully I recovered before he could notice and use this to boost his ego.

I continued explaining the classes, showing him each room. After I saw a genuine smile from him, I found myself frequently glancing at him, looking at him more closely. I was surprised to see that, through it all, he acted respectful and took all the information in, actually looking eager. I was befuddled by this new personality. It was then I got the feeling that Edward Cullen's not as shallow as I thought, that his arrogant side is only on the outside. I was still on my guard though.

Before I knew it, almost an hour had passed, and I remembered that I had to meet Alice and Rose.

"Hey," I told Edward as we rode the elevator back up to the main floor, "I have to go meet my friends soon. Um, I guess you can go to the student lounge or something…" I trailed off, not sure what to do.

"Are they the friends that will my Emmett's and Jasper's guides?" Edward asked.

"Yeah. Come to think of it, they'll probably bring them too…" I though out loud.

"Then can I come? I want to see my brothers, and it would be nice to meet your friends," he said. I was taken back by his sincerity again, and couldn't reply, so I shrugged and nodded instead.

I began walking to the exit of the campus. Where are we going?" asked Edward, following behind.

"To a restaurant. It's off campus, but it's still owned by ERU, so we'll be able to talk freely there," I explained.

"Ah."

We walked to the parking lot, and Edward said, "My car's right here," he gestured to the front row. "Do you want to ride together?"

"Why not? Let's conserve the Earth's finite resources," I joked. I found the more time we spent together, the more Edward showed his 'good' side, and the more good-natured I became. I was liking this side.

He smiled that dazzling smile again, and again I was shocked. This time, I could not prevent the slight pink that came on to my cheeks. "Um, so where is it?" I said, trying to cover up.

If he noticed, he didn't say anything. Instead, he took me to a shiny, silver Volvo. Figures. He's rich.

He surprised me again when he opened my door for me in a very gentlemanlike manner. Another side of him? I was still chewing it over when he got into the car himself and started pulling out of the parking lot.

"So, where is the place?" he asked.

I told him the directions, knowing he'd only need to hear it once. He nodded and drove. Very fast, I might add. We made small talk, and he just kept surprising me. He was so _nice_ right now. I didn't know what to make of it.

Eventually, he asked, "So what kind of restaurant is it?"

"It's an Italian place called _La Bella Italia_. Rose, Alice, and I go there often. We call it 'our spot', because they have a private room there, just for us and our guests, if we have any. It's one of the perks of being top of class," I shrugged.

He smirked, "Oh, I know."

Ah. And the arrogant side makes its reappearance. Darn. I was starting to consider asking the campus doctor to examine him for multiple personality disorder. Jeez.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading!_

_**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**_

_See you next time!_


	4. Interesting, erm, Topics

Mission: Not Happening

_A/n: It's me again! If you haven't noticed the pattern, I'm trying to update once a week, so that's when you can expect to see me. I can't guarantee it, though. School is brutal, so I might have to skip a week or two. Just know that I will never give up on this story!_

_In this chapter, you get to know a little more about the group. Like Alice and Jasper's schedule, a vague account of Rose's past and her personality, and Emmett, the goofball and our favorite teddy bear. There some more sparks between Edward and Bella too ; )._

_I'm trying to keep this AN short, but at the end, there is a longer one. I've got a few things to say._

_I still need a beta and am still taking offers! Basically, I'm looking for experience (preferably on fanfiction, but you can send me a sample of your own work that's not on the website), and a basic eye for grammar and spelling mistakes. Please help me out!_

_Thanks for all the reviews! It really means a lot. Remember, if you see a mistake, feel free to point it out! I hope you enjoy the chapter!_

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Chapter 3: Interesting, erm, Topics

Alice and Jasper's Schedules:

1. Advanced Sciences 4 (Shared with Bella and Rose)

2. Advance Technologies 4 (Shared with Bella

3. Physical Training 3

4. Social Customs 3 (Shared with Bella)

5. Lunch

6. Advance Computers and Data 4

7. Laboratory 4

8. Technological Simulations 4

**Note: **Period 8, for all students, is the simulation's course, where you have to do simulations based on what field you're in. Alice is an LT, so she takes Tech Sims, while Rose takes Physical Sims. Bella and Edward are double 0 agents, so they go to a special double 0 training session, as stated last chapter. When Edward, and later Bella, became a double 0 agent, they (headquarters) changed the time for double 0 training so that it would match period 8 at the schools.

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**Disclaimer: Do not own. Unfortunately. Edward is always welcome to own me, though!**

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**Note: The stuff about the pulse bomb is not real. I read it somewhere in a book, so I know it exists, but the concrete stuff, I don't know about**

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We pulled in to the restaurant parking lot and, once again, Edward opened my door before I could. I had to admit, I really liked this gentleman side of Edward. Now, if only his arrogant, cocky side could keep away…

When we walked up to the restaurant, Edward frowned. "I thought ERU owned the place."

"They do," I said, puzzled.

"But it's a public restaurant. We won't be able to be ourselves here," he said.

"The public part is only on the lower floor," I explained, "The upper floors, or VIP floors, as it is dubbed to normal people, are for ERU students."

"Oh," Edward comprehended.

We walked through the doors, where the host greeted us.

"Ah, Ms. Swan, hello again. Please wait a moment while I get my manager," he said before leaving.

Edward gave me an inquiring glance.

I whispered, "Employees are supposed to get a manager anytime an ERU student walks in. For a school log. Usually, most students have to show ID, but Rose, Alice, and I come here so often that everyone already knows us." While I said this, I raised my hand as if to move my hair out of my face, but I also tapped my head and shook my head slightly, explaining that workers were in the dark.

He nodded in understanding to both.

Just then, a tall man came out. He looked to be about in his early forties, brown hair and sparkling, but aged dark blue eyes. "Miss Swan! It is lovely to see you again!" he said warmly, taking my hand and kissing it.

I rolled my eyes but smiled, "You can lay off the charm, Mr. Caprell." Mr. Caprell used to be a very respected field agent, not quite double 0, but very close. However, on one of his missions, he acquired extensive injuries, and although he was able complete the mission with his life, he could never do a field mission again. So he helped the government by running places that were supposed to be safe for us, as well as working at home base.

He sighed, disappointed. "But I don't want to."

I shrugged.

"And who is your guest? A date?" an innocent (enough) question, but I knew he was actually asking if Edward was 'in the know'.

"Nah. Not a chance. I'm supposed to be his guide. He's an exchange student from LVU." I knew my last sentence would answer his question.

Edward offered his hand. "Edward Cullen," he said, grinning.

"My, my, Edward Cullen!" Mr. Caprell exclaimed, shaking his hand, "I've heard many things about you, my boy."

"All good, I hope," Edward replied.

"Depends on what source you're referring to." Mr. Caprell winked at me, and I looked away, a secretive smile on my face. One of the times that he had joined Rose, Alice, and I for dinner (sometimes we invite him. He's good company) was the time when we were discussing (coughrantingcough) about Edward.

Edward raised an eyebrow at me, not missing this exchange. I ignored him, but the smile grew slightly more pronounced.

"Anyway, I confess that I'm glad you're not Miss Swan's date, Mr. Cullen, otherwise I'd never have a chance!" Mr. Caprell continued playfully.

"Call me Edward. And I'm sure that's not true," Edward assured in the same manner.

"Alas, but it is," Mr. Caprell said wistfully, "You have no idea how many time's I've been rejected by Miss Swan here, and her friends. But that will not put me off!"

Edward grinned, "That's the spirit."

"Thank you," he said to Edward, before turning to me. "Miss Swan, your friends are already here, along with their guests. Apparently, Ms. Hale and Ms. Brandon are guides as well. Go ahead on up."

I smiled, "Thanks, Mr. Caprell."

"I can think of another way you can thank me," he winked.

I rolled my eyes again before dragging Edward toward the door that hid the stairs. Once we were on the other side and were making our way up, Edward finally spoke.

"So, Mr. Caprell, huh?" he quirked an eyebrow.

For the third time, I rolled my eyes. I seemed to be doing that a lot. Must be Edward.

"He flirts with all ERU ladies. You get used to it," I said.

"Alright, but is there really no chance of me ever being your date?" he asked and I could see his cocky grin in the corner of my eye.

I briefly glanced at him and said, "I highly doubt it."

His grin grew wider. "You highly doubt that I have no chance?"

"No," I said impassively, "I highly doubt you _have_ a chance." His face dropped.

"Why?" he asked, frowning.

"Because, you're not my type," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused. Probably thinking, 'I'm everyone's type' or something. Tch. Looks like _someone_ has a big ego.

"You're a womanizer, a playboy, and this close to being a manwhore. That's not my type," I clarified.

Edward was shocked. So shocked that he had stopped climbing for a few moments, though I just kept going. Cool. Looks like I deflated that ego just a bit.

Apparently, he snapped out of it because eventually, he caught up with me again.

"Aren't you exaggerating a bit?" he said defensively. He sounded like he was struggling to control his hurt, and surprisingly, it made me feel guilty, and _bad_ that he was hurting. I ignored it (mostly).

"Okay, maybe the last part was really extreme, but not the first two," I admitted.

"And how would you know?" he accused.

I snorted. "This isn't your first visit to ERU, remember? Add experiences of my ERU sisters and my own observations, you get undeniable fact. Admit it Cullen, you're a womanizer and a playboy."

"What exactly is you're definition of those terms?" he asked, then added, irritated, "And I told you to call me Edward!"

I glared at him, ignoring the last part. "Making out with more than one girl a day! Promising to go on a date with one girl, then canceling abruptly just to go out with someone else! Leading a girl on, only to act cold and distant to her the next day!"

"And who says I've done that?" he asked, defensive.

"I've seen it!" I exclaimed.

He sighed. "Okay, let's just say you're right, _for now_. Then how come your 'sisters' still are willing to date me?" he asked smugly.

"Sadly, knowledge alone does not make most girls immune to your manipulative ways," I sighed.

"That's a harsh way to put it. I like to think of it as charm." Ah. There's the smugness again.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Call it what you want, but you'll find that it won't work on me."

"Oh really?" he said cockily.

"Really." We were at the top of the stairs, and before he could reply, I opened the door to the room and stepped through.

"Hey, I'm not done yet!" he called.

"Too bad!" I threw over my shoulder.

I directed my full attention to the room, where Rose and Alice were waiting for me, along with whom I recognized to be Emmett and Jasper Cullen. Edward came in while my friends immediately came up to hug me. Emmett and Jasper went to clap Edward's back, grinning, and Edward was grinning back, punching them on their shoulders. I couldn't help but stare a little. Edward looked so carefree with his brothers, like he let himself go. It entranced me.

I managed to look away without the boys notice, but it didn't, however, slip from my friends' notices. Alice was practically bouncing. I looked at Rose for an explanation, but she shrugged, confused as well. However, I did detect a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"Come on, Bella!" Alice exclaimed, "Do your introductions!"

"Um, okay. Cullen, this is Alice Brandon and Rosalie Hale. Alice is our best LT, and Rose is our best—"

Rose cut me off, "Don't you dare Bella. You know you're ERU's best field agent, so don't even try to give it off to me. The humbleness got annoying a long time ago." Rose, always cut and dry.

I rolled my eyes. "Status isn't everything."

"Maybe not, but even if it weren't, you'd still be best. And I'm fine with that. I don't want to be best. Too much pressure."

I sighed, giving up. "Okay, let me try that again. Rose is our second best field agent, but under normal circumstances, her skills would be at first."

"Better," Rose conceded.

I stuck my tongue out before going, "There, intro's done."

Jasper spoke up, "What, no one's going to introduce us?" Jasper was very handsome, with longish blond hair and dark blue eyes.

"Yeah. Nice to know we're so important," Emmett teased. He was good looking as well, with dark, curly fair and hazel eyes. Not to mention muscles the size of boulders. He looked very intimidating, but I could tell he was a softy at heart.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Please, no on has had to introduce themselves to Bella for a long time. At least, not if they're from LVU. She's memorized all your records after hacking into your main frame one summer."

I flushed as Emmett and Jasper gaped at me, while Edward looked nonchalantly away.

I shrugged. "I was bored. If it makes you feel any better, I tightened your security on my way out." More staring.

Then suddenly Emmett starting laughing. Even Jasper grinned. "Actually, I do remember a year when I came back to LVU to find security a lot, er, better. I just through LVU made upgrades over the summer. That was you?"

I nodded sheepishly.

Emmett finally stopped laughing enough to choke out, "Oh my god, you have no idea how funny that is. Edward has been trying to hack into ERU's system for a year, and you hacked into ours in a summer?"

"Less," Alice chirped, "A day, really." I got redder.

That sent Emmett into a fresh round of hysterics.

Rose turned to Edward and said, "By the way, you might want to give up hacking into our system. It'll take you at least seven years or so. It was specifically designed by Bella to adapt to any attempts of a break in."

That sent Emmett to the floor, while Edward frowned.

"Alice helped!" I protested over Emmett's loud laughter. If possible, my face got even redder.

Alice snorted. "Barely. You did the design Bella, I just worked out a few kinks."

"That's helping!" I said.

"Oh Bella, follow Rose's advice and stop being humble."

"I would if you would stop trying to show me off," I accused, my overheated face getting hotter with anger.

"'K, 'k, we'll stop. Jeez," Alice surrendered. "Though we're just proud of you Bella."

"But you're making sound like a snob."

"No, we're not. We're just stating facts," Rose piped in.

"Well, you can stop that."

Rose shrugged.

Emmett was still laughing and Edward, quiet, was sulking big time. I turned to Jasper, who was the only one that was still calm and reasonable. "Is really that major of a deal?"

"No. LVU's system really was never as good as ERU's. But it certainly is entertaining," Jasper replied. "However, you're in a room with two of the most biggest drama kings in the world," he added, grinning.

I snickered, my face finally starting to go back to normal, while Emmett and Edward both cried, "Hey!"

"I resent that!" Emmett panted, worn from the laughing.

"I am not a drama king," Edward said indignantly.

"Sure, sure," Every else chanted, even Rose and Alice. That sent us all into laughter, and eventually, after scowling for a moment, Edward joined in.

When the laughter finally died down, I said, "Why don't we order before we talk more?"

Everyone agreed, especially Emmett, who apparently liked to think with his stomach more than his brain. He was also know to be very flirtation, much like Edward. A typical guy. But you couldn't help but like him. There was something contagious about him, similar to Alice. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I'm sure I will the more time I spend with him, and I will spend more time with him, with Rose as his guide.

As for Jasper, I found him, so far, very calm, and his calmness seemed to spread to others. He also seemed very sensitive to others' feelings, a rare finding. I figured him to be an all around nice guy, even if he's friends/adoptive brothers with two crazies.

We ordered through the electronic menu in the wall, since no waiters were allowed up here. Then was all sat around the table and started to talk.

"I didn't properly introduce myself before, though I guess now introductions are pointless. I'm Bella," I started.

"Agent 006. Yes, we've heard of you. You have LVU's respect," said Jasper kindly. I flushed, embarrassed.

"Yeah. You got your status in sophomore year like Edward, but you managed to keep yourself from getting a big head. _That_, I respect you for," Emmett snorted. "The world couldn't handle two Edwards, even if one was a she-Edward."

"She-Edward?" I asked, hard-pressed to laugh.

"Yeah, she-Edward. You know, like she-man?" he said seriously, oblivious that the rest of the table was fighting laughter.

"Well, Emmett, I don't think you have to worry," I said when I regained control of myself. "I would never want to be a she—" I couldn't say it without giggling anymore, so I settled for, "a female version of Cullen."

Emmett nodded, still serious, saying, "Yeah, because then it would be awkward when Edward tries to get into your pants."

Edward choked on his water. "Wh-what?!"

"Oh, come on. Like you weren't thinking it." Emmett's eyes rolled.

"Emmett, it's okay, because guys have been trying to get down Bella's pants long before Edward came along," Alice said a matter-of-factly.

This time, it was my turn to choke. "E-excuse me?!" I said in disbelief.

"Oh come on, Bella. Don't tell me you don't remember Mike Newton," Alice said.

"Or Eric Yorkie," said Rosalie.

"Or Tyler Crowley," added Alice.

"This is hardly an appropriate thing to be talking about right now! We're about to eat dinner for god's sake! Besides, that's only three," I exclaimed.

"Those are the only three who we actually know the names of," Rose corrected.

"And made the most, err, lasting impression on us," said Alice.

"Why? What did they do?" asked Emmett eagerly.

"Well, Mike really resembled a puppy dog, in looks and actions—" Alice began, enjoying this.

I cut it off before she could continue, "Alice! Rose! Stop it! Don't make me get started on the guys that try to get down _your_ pants." I was desperate, so I also gave them a look that said 'or the guys you _let_ get down your pants.'

In return, they gave me the 'Shut up' look.

"Yeah, I'm sure there were a lot." Emmett waggled his eyebrows at Rose. I waited for the eye roll and sarcastic remark from my friend, her usual reaction to guys who tried to flatter her. But instead, she smirked, accepting the flirt, and, in her unusual way, flirting back. I was completely taken aback.

"Um, could we move on from this topic?" Edward asked nervously.

Oh, _this_ I couldn't take. "Oh please. I'm surprised you aren't trying to egg this conversation on. I mean, I'm sure this is a hobby of yours, you know. 'Getting in women's pants'," I snapped.

Edward looked at me, shocked. And, for a brief moment, I saw genuine hurt in his emerald green eyes.

I wondered why, until Emmett and Jasper decided to answer for me

"Hobby? Are you sure we're talking about the same person? Little Eddie over there hasn't seen a bit of action," said Emmett. Edward got a bit pink.

"He's a virgin," Jasper clarified.

My jaw dropped. Emmett and Jasper chuckled at my reaction.

"Please, Bella. I might be a 'player', as you so kindly put it. But I'm not bad enough as to deflower women," he said to his feet.

Oh, damn. Now I felt guilty. For _Cullen_, no less! And look at him! Changing moods again. Really, can't he just pick a side of himself and stick to it?

I was silent, so Alice apparently felt the need to answer for me. "Don't worry, Edward, Bella's a virgin, too."

My head snapped to Alice's direction as I turned cherry red. "Alice!" I exclaimed.

Alice shrugged innocently, "Hey, it isn't fair for just Edward to be embarrassed."

"So it's okay if 2 out of 6 are?" I retorted.

"Yup," put in Rose. I glared at her.

"It's okay, Bella," a velvet voice said. My head whipped again to face Edward.

He was _smirking_! The _nerve_ of that—!

"What are you smirking at, Cullen?" I spat.

"You," he said calmly.

The table snickered as a turned an even deeper shade of red.

I couldn't help it. I was so angry that I snapped, "It's that attitude that keeps 'Little Eddie' from the action," even though I had no intention of rubbing his virginity in his face. It's his fault though. He did it first.

My comment had sent the table in to harder snickers.

This time, it was fake hurt that shown on Edward's face. "That's harsh, making fun of my consistence of virtue."

I couldn't _believe_ he was making _me_ the bad guy! "You're the one who did if first!"

"I never said anything. All I said was that I was smirking at you," Edward defended.

"You implied it!"

"Proof?"

"You can't give proof about a person's thoughts!"

"You nailed it." There was the smirk again.

By now, the whole table was in an uproar. I clenched my fists, feeling my embarrassment fuel my anger. I finally exploded, "_Enough!_"

Everyone fell silent.

"Now we are going to do what Cullen suggested earlier and drop the subject, no buts," I said slowly, in a tone and look that I usually reserved for when I interrogate people.

I forgot what that combination did to people.

Everyone stared at me.

"Damn, Bella, you can be really scary," Emmett said in awe.

Jasper nodded. "You gave me the chills."

Edward just stared at me.

"That everyone, is one reason why Bella is also an exceptional interrogator. And also why no one likes being on her bad side. I guess I don't have to tell you that she has quite a temper," Alice piped.

"When she has the look and the voice, I suggest you run away," said Rose.

"Lots of criminals were, uh, worse for wear because they didn't realize that," Alice added.

By then, I had calmed down, and my face got redder in embarrassment with each comment, but I still was able to joke. "If you think _I_ have a temper, wait till you see Rose. She _is_ our best interrogator, hands down. And she can't deny it. When _she_ has the look and the voice, well, just pray lightning strikes you down, because that would be a lot less painful than facing Rose's wrath."

Rose blushed, but smiled proudly at the compliment.

"Don't forget Alice, though. She's a force of nature. Absolutely _nothing_ gets past her. Seriously. Down to the last stitch on your clothing. And she has this uncanny ability to predict things. I would never bet against Alice," she also said.

Alice smiled angelically.

Jasper chuckled, "Well, aren't you three just the invincible trio."

"That's us!" we grinned.

"Except, Bella, here, can—" Alice started.

I stopped her, being tire of being in the spotlight. "Hey, no more talking about me, got it?" I said sternly, but not as intimidating as before.

"Got it," Alice and Rose chorused, in a tone like they said this a lot. I rolled my eyes.

I turned to the boys, "So, Emmett, Jasper, how—"

Edward cut me off, "Wait a minute, you call Emmett and Jasper by their names, but you call me 'Cullen'? And how many times did I tell you to call me Edward?"

" Four. You told me four," I replied, "And I call them Emmett and Jasper because I can't exactly call you three Cullen, Cullen, and Cullen, can I?"

"So I'm the one stuck with the last name? You can't just keep out the 'Cullen' and call me by my first name, too?" he asked.

"No," I said simply.

"Great," Edward said, sarcasm just dripping from his voice.

"I know, isn't it?" I said, with false cheerfulness.

Edward's eyes rolled.

"Anyway, as I was saying," I moved on, "So Emmett, Jasper, what do you think of ERU so far?"

"Totally cool!" Emmett exclaimed like a kid, "I mean, like all the cool security and stuff!"

"I'm sure you have that at LVU. I've seen it," I said.

"Well, yea, but not like this! Like all the elevators, and _five_ scanners just to get into the school!? Jeez, what do you guys keep in here?" Emmett continued.

"Nothing," I said too quickly. Oops. Everyone looked at me. I shrugged, trying to cover up. I knew security here is tight. I designed it, for a specific purpose. No one could know about it. Normally, I could cover up a bit better, but I had my guard down here, and well, I wasn't in mission mode either.

Apparently, my measly cover up worked, and everyone went back to talking. Jasper and Alice were discussing Alice's fingerprint wall scaling thingy, and Emmett and I were talking about some combat techniques.

Rose and Edward were in a conversation about the mechanics of engines. Well, Rose was. Edward was listening and asking questions. Turns out that the stupid, shiny Volvo owner was also a stupid, expensive, rare Aston Martin Vanquish owner, and he wanted tips to keep his engines in top shape. No need to say, Rose was really into it. And when Edward asked Rose if she wanted to take a look at his cars, she actually squealed.

When we all looked over to see what was wrong, she gushed, "I'm going to look at the engine of an Aston Martin Vanquish!" She beamed at Edward.

Well, I guess Mr. Gorgeous over there won over Rosalie. Though I suppose anyone could if they showed genuine interest in engines. That was Rose's passion, especially cars. Though she may look like one of those blonde bimbos, she really isn't, even if she wasn't in a government-funded University for training secret agents. She could take an engine apart bolt by bolt, put it back together so that it's even better than before in less than an hour, and still look like a model. She actually worked as a mechanic in high school, before the government discovered her. Now, she's best in the school (excluding me, unfortunately). She had actually been Alice and my guide when we became freshman, and we've been all but inseparable since. She was a great friend and had an honest, blunt look at the world. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind and was always there to snap Alice and I to reality. I was lucky she liked me, let alone be one of my best friends.

The food eventually came (via Mr. Caprell and a handy dandy cart. Luckily, we managed to kick him out before there was too much flirting), and after we started eating, we told stories of some missions we've had. The kicker was probably Edward's story about Emmett.

"There was this one time we had to dewier a bomb in the German embassy without letting the German ambassador there was a bomb," Edward had told, "Emmett was my partner. It was the one mission I thought we'd fail. First Emmett offended the ambassador with his nonexistent German by calling him a 'toad hair frog fart'—" the table burst out laughing while Emmett just patted his chest proudly. "Then he screwed up the ambassador's schedule, almost making him late to a meeting with his boss and almost got the poor secretary fired—" we started howling, "and finally when we found that the bomb was in a three foot thick concrete wall (it was a pulse bomb, so the concrete wouldn't affect it), and after I drilled a decently large hole for my arm to get into it, Emmett decided to stick his arm there instead, and ends up getting stuck!" We were laughing so hard we were almost crying.

"I had to cut out a piece of the concrete he was stuck in, to get him out, and just then, the ambassador came back! I had to make up some crappy story about how we were putting in a new slab of concrete in and that my apprentice had decided to do something stupid. He seemed to believe it, the last part at least. Luckily, I managed to defuse the bomb in time and complete the mission. However, the whole way back to LVU, Emmett had a slab of concrete around his right arm, and the head got so upset at him that he made him wear it for the rest of the week!" We went into full-blown hysterics.

"Hey, I got a nice work out from it," Emmett grinned, "See these biceps?" He curled his arm so we could see, which did not help to calm us. Alice was doubled over, clutching her stomach, Rose was laughing so hard no sound came out from her lips, and I was crying.

Pretty soon, everyone was done, and we all started to leave. Since we had come in pairs, we left in pairs, too. Edward and I in his Volvo, Rose and Emmett in her M3 (Emmett was positively head over heels for the car. As for the owner? We'll see), and Alice and Jasper in her Porsche. Yes, I know I'm the only girl without the cool car, but hey, I liked my almost fifty-year-old red Chevy truck. It had character. And it's not like we use our cars for missions (since the license plates link back to us). My truck was just fine.

We all exchanged "See you at the dorms" or "See you tomorrow" and stuff before heading off.

It was silent in the car for a while, until Edward commented, "I like Alice and Rosalie. They seem very nice."

"They are nice, and gorgeous too. Lots of men drool over Rosalie, and the same men are captivated by Alice," I said slyly, gauging his reaction. For some reason, it bothered me that Edward might be interested in Rosalie or Alice. To that I would blame him, but still. I shook it off quickly, though. _He's a player_, I reminded myself.

Apparently, I didn't need to worry, because instead he snorted and said, "I prefer brunettes," casting a meaningful glance at me.

I blushed at the indirect compliment, and couldn't help but feel a wave of relief wash over me. I scolded myself for this. _You're not supposed to be relieved_, I told myself, _you're not supposed like him, remember?_

To cover my blush, which I was sure he noticed, I said, "I didn't know you had a preference," apathetically, "Or, at least, it didn't seem like it." It was true. He'd been seen making out with a variety of women, despite hair color.

"Well, I do," he replied simply.

There was a silence again, and it lasted until we reached ERU. He opened my door for me again, much to my disapproval and pleasure, and we walked onto campus. Just in front of the dorm buildings, I stopped and faced him.

"Well, thanks for the rides," I said.

"You're welcome. And thanks for the tour," he replied.

"You're welcome."

And we left it at that, parting our ways to our separate dorms.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading!  
_

_Okay, I have a few things to say though._

_I'm positively MOURNING for Midnight Sun. I'm also very disappointed in whoever leaked it, but I won't say anything about that. But I WILL say that after I found out, I spent 2 hours on the phone with my friend, and all we were doing was grieving over the loss. I have read the partial draft, though (thank you, Stephenie, for being so fair!), and I positively LOVED it, and that just made me more sad, because I REALLY wanted to know what happens. It didn't even get that far! Sigh. PM me if you want to talk about it!_

_I'm also ecstatic about the Twilight movie. Especially the reshoots. The icing on the cake! Some of the scenes they told us they were shooting at the reshoots (it's really reshoots. Just some things they couldn't get to cuz of the crazy weather) were so - I don't know how to say it! I'm absolutely psyched for November 21, and sadly, it's the only thing I'm looking forward to now. I plan on buying the DVD and Soundtrack as soon as it comes out, though, and I'll listen and watch it over and over and over..._

_Moving on, next chapter is super long, so look forward to it! _

_I hope you liked the chapter!_

**_PLEASE REVIEW!!_**

See you next time!


	5. Girl Talk

_A/N: I'm back! Yes, I know this is a little late, but hey, I got it up, and that's what matters right? _

_Okay, before we get to the chap, there's a few matters of business to address._

_First, I wanted to warn you guys. This is MY fanfiction, hence in this particular world, I am the rule maker, and well, here's the deal. ERU and LVU, though both a college/university, are not like other colleges for more the just the obvious reasons. In regular colleges, you can choose when and how many courses you have. In MY colleges, there's too much stuff that they need to train you for, so the schedule is much like high school where you have seven classes a day, five days a week. Sucks for them, I know, but they get to be government agents! They can't complain._

_Also, I wanted to thank everybody who mentioned Midnight Sun in their reviews. I'm still so sad about that...If you want to show your support, there's a lot of stuff you can do, just go to the standard Twilight fansites (If you don't know what they are, PM me. But if you're truly a Twilighter, well, you should know) and they have a bunch of stuff you can do. I myself am thinking about writing a letter, and I signed the petition. So, let your pleas to have Edward's voice be heard!_

_Next, I AM STILL IN NEED OF A BETA. Seriously, so please help me out?_

_And, here's another warning. I'm sorry, but the next chapter might take a while. You see, up until now, I pre-wrote chapters, so I had some slack. Well, I just used up that slack, so the weekly treats I've been giving you might not be weekly anymore. Just fair warning._

_Oh yea, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've changed the summary. I think it's a better summary considering the length constraints. Give me your opinion_

_IMPORTANT: I changed chapter 2 a bit. I made some editing to the schedule explanation. You don't have to go back and read it, you can probably figure it out yourself later. Just know that it's there._

_Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to thank all my reviewers! YOU'RE THE BEST! To those I can't reply personally to, I'm putting my reply below:_

**Idkme**: Thank you very much! Yes, I was sad and mad also, to a degree that only belongs in funerals… TT, still mourning too… Thank you also on the behalf of the very devoted Twilight community. We always welcome help to get our voices heard. I also want to thank you for all your wonderful comments about my story. It means a lot. Thank you again and I really hope you enjoy the story!

**Izy**: Thank you SO much! That's great! I really appreciate the compliments! And yeah, don't worry, it'll happen eventually. And still, as much as I love ExB, I also love to see them have at it too. It's really cute and funny. Thanks again and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

_Thanks again! _

_Note: This is sort of a filler/transition chapter. Sorry, but they're necessary. However, next chapter is the start of classes! Yay! Now THAT will be fun to write!_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Girl Talk**

Rose and Emmett's Schedule:

1. Advance Sciences 4

2. Physical Training 4

3. Advance Technology 4

4. Social Customs 4

5. lunch

6. Stealth and Covert Operations 4

7. Weapons and Equipment 4

8. Physical Simulations 4

* * *

**Disclaimer**- **How many times do I have to say this? Do not own Stephenie's wonderful characters. Oh, and all the techno stuff? Not based on reality. Will not be held accountable for people who take my fic like it's real life. So, if there is a ERU or LVU out there, well, it has nothing to do with me.**

* * *

As I made my way through the security to my dorm, my mind was analyzing Edward and his seemingly very different sides.

There was playboy-slash-flirty Edward, the side that I had previously known about. However, now that I really think about it, and now that I've experienced it first hand and seen Edward's other sides, I was beginning to think that is was a habit. A habit I disapproved of, but not part of his real personality. This feeling made sense, I guess, due to Edward's second side.

His gentleman side. The side that mad him open doors for me and try to change the topic from an inappropriate and uncomfortable subject. This side was a direct contradiction to his playboy side, which was how I came to the habit conclusion. But then again, this gentleman side could just be a ruse, to get me to let my guard down, but for some reason I feel like it isn't. Ugh. This is why I hate contradictions. They make things so much more complicated.

Last, but not least, there was that arrogant, self-centered, cocky side that I despised. Thinking that he's king of the world and all that. It was annoying and I detested it.

So, I made myself a personal mission, with two objectives. One, to figure out which of these sides is the real Edward Cullen, and two, to humble him (actually, downright humiliate him, but humble sounds better).

I mean really, who acts like that? Does he really have a head the size of the moon or is that a ruse? And how dare he tease my like that! And all that switching sides stuff? I know it's supposed to mean that the person's multi-layered, but in reality it's just annoying! I didn't even ask for this! I didn't sign up for this stupid exchange program, and ask to spend a semester at LVU. And the 'equal status' crap? Yeah, I guess it's logical, but I don't give a crap. It's just not fair!

I was fuming by the time I made it to my dorm, and just from thinking about this stuff! I needed a spa day. Now to sneak out without Alice trying to take control of it…

I opened my door to unsurprisingly find Rose and Alice there too, no doubtedly here to have 'girl talk'. For once, I wasn't complaining. I needed to rant.

I closed the door and immediately started.

"I can't _believe_ that they just signed us up for this stupid exchange program! It's so unfair! We didn't even want to be a part of it and now we're _guides_? To the Cullens, no less! What were they thinking! This is absolutely making me miserable! Right now, I can't think of a worst thing that's happened to me at ERU!" I huffed, arms crossed over my chest. I waited for them to agree or something.

I was shocked to find that instead, my two best friends sat meekly on the bed saying, 'I don't really mind it at all."

I gaped at them.

I crossed the room to my bed and sat down. I gazed directly at the two of them on Alice's bed before going, "Explain."

"Well, Jasper is actually a really decent guy," Alice said.

"Yeah, and Emmett's pretty fun to be with," added Rose.

"Yeah, but that doesn't give the head the right to sign us up for something we didn't want."

"No, but we'll just have to make do," Alice said a matter-of-factly.

"And this might be a good experience for us," Rose said.

I snorted, "Speak for yourself. You didn't get paired with _Edward Cullen _of all people."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Okay, I know we agreed that his way with women is wrong, but there's still more to him than that. I can tell."

"He seemed decent at the restaurant," Rose shrugged. "Granted, there was still an air cockiness around him, but that's to be expected."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed, "He has so many sides to him I don't know what to think! I especially hate the cockiness of his. He is not better than everyone else, so he shouldn't act like it! And don't get me started about the women. He needs to start treating them with respect!" I burst, "I don't care if he is a gentleman."

Rose raised an eyebrow at the last word, and I flushed. I hadn't meant to tell anyone about that side.

Alice started bouncing up and down. This looked familiar to me. "Alice…" I said suspiciously, "You were bouncing like that at the restaurant, too. Why?"

"Because Bella, I've never seen you so passionate about something! I think that Edward could be the one for you!"

I snorted, "Are you nuts? When hell freezes over."

"Really Bella! You should see the physical chemistry between you two!" Alice said earnestly, "All you need to do is humble him a bit and smack him out of his bad playboy ways and he'd be the perfect guy for you! I can see it! And you know I have a knack for being right when I see those kind of thing!" She said in all this in one breath.

I shook my head. "Alice, I think you've had too much sugar and caffeine today. Because your 'knack' is seriously way off. Edward and I will be together…not even when pigs fly. More like when pigs live on the moon."

Alice pouted. "I did _not_ have too much sugar! And I _know_ I'm right! Tell her Rose!"

Rose rolled her eyes and put her hands in front of her, palms forward. "Don't get me in to this. Though Bella, I won't deny there's some serious chemistry between you and Edward. Especially that little showdown you two had at dinner. There were sparks flying, you could see it."

"See?" Alice said triumphantly.

I glared at Rose. "So much for staying out of it."

Rose shrugged.

"And those were sparks of anger!" I retorted.

"Passionate anger!" Alice defined, "Bella, most of the time when you're angry, you either get scary or annoyed. But this time, Bella you really came out of your shell."

"What shell! And it doesn't matter! Edward is _not_ the one for me even remotely!" I stated.

"Aw come one, Bella. Don't you feel the teeniest bit of attraction for him?" Alice asked.

"A little…" I relented, but continued before Alice could say anything, "But who wouldn't? I never denied he has the looks, but what's behind the looks is seriously lacking."

"Won't you at least give it a chance?" Alice pleaded.

I sighed, "Alice, there was a time when I would never consider betting against you, but I'm sorry to say that time has ended."

Alice pouted again, crossing her arms across her chest.

I was ready for this to end, so I said, "Tell you what, Alice. If Edward and I do end up getting together, and that is the biggest 'if' ever used in the history of ifs, I'll let you take me on a no-limit shopping trip, no strings attached."

Alice's eyes lit up and she said, "Well, you better start preparing yourself because that 'if' will get smaller and smaller and before you know it, it will turn into a 'when'"

I just shook my head. I was confident that wouldn't happen. Rose, however, said, "You have no idea what you just unleashed."

We talked for a bit more after that, catching up with Rose before Rosalie finally went back to her own dorm and Alice and I got into bed, waiting for the bound to be interesting next day.

* * *

(_A/N: Bet you thought that was then end, huh? I'm not that cruel.)_

At 6:00 a.m., I was woken by a certain roommate bouncing on my bed. I groaned into my pillow, "Alice…class doesn't start till two hours from now, and it only takes me half an hour to get ready…"

"Not anymore!" Alice chirped, way too cheerful for this early in the morning. "You and I are heading over to Rose's so we can actually really get ready, the whole nine yards."

"Why?" I complained, rolling to my side with my eyes squinted, "The first day of school isn't _that_ important."

"It is now that there are three hottie-extraordinaires attending school now, one of which you will be spending the entire day with."

I lifted my head to glare at Alice. "Why should _I_ pretty myself up for _Cullen_? I'm not one of those swoony, eager to impress girls."

"I know you're not. But it doesn't matter because you have no say. You're coming to Rose's with me even if I have to drag you, and you know I would," Alice threatened. I sighed. Yeah, she would.

I groaned one more time before reluctantly pulling myself out of bed.

"That's it," Alice said, satisfied, "Now go shower quickly and wash up. I expect you to be at Rose's in 15 minutes sharp. Understood?"

I mock saluted her before making my way to our small bathroom. I showered quickly and towel-dried my hair. I pulled on some sweats and a T-shirt and brushed my teeth. I still had about 3 minutes before my time was up, so, as slowly as I could, I went to Rose's.

They were waiting for me, all ready to pounce. I groaned. This early in the morning, I couldn't put up much of a fight, and they knew that.

They dragged me to Rose's (huge) bathroom and sat me down. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, hoping to get this over with.

"Don't worry, Bella," Rose rolled her eyes, "It won't be nothing major."

"Yea," Alice assured, "We're going for subtle, just enough to bring out your natural beauty."

Mentally, I snorted. "What natural beauty?" I muttered. Rose and Alice rolled their eyes. We had this argument many times.

I was happy about one thing. Subtle would mean that it wouldn't look like I was trying to impress the boys, which I wasn't.

They got to work.

First, they sprayed some stuff in my hair to keep it under control, but otherwise left it to dry in natural waves.

For make up, they put some simple dark, waterproof, eyeliner and mascara (they knew I would sweat eventually during the day, thanks to my physical classes), giving my eyes a slight smoky look (no eye shadow, for the same reason as the waterproof eyeliner and mascara). They also applied a soft pink 'long-lasting' lipgloss. There was no need for blush, since I had a natural flush. Also, I tended to blush. Frequently.

(_A/N: Warning: I'm one of those people that describe the clothes in detail, only because I think of the design myself, so I can't just say 'look at my profile for the picture'. If you don't like these kind of descriptions, skip this paragraph)_ Then they forced me to change into an outfit they had pre-picked for me. A lacy white tank top with a mahogany brown, three-quartered sleeve cardigan sweater to go on top. The sweater had a shallow, but still a bit low, neck line that hung of one shoulder to reveal one of the lace straps of my tank top, as well as a bit of the lace trimming on the neckline. For bottoms, I wore simple white denim capris that laced up on the sides with a matching brown ribbon. Thankfully, the shoes were only brown flip-flops.

By now, my hair had dried, so they tied it into a standard half-up-half-down hair do, tied with a white hair tie, leaving my wavy bangs that were parted on the side to gently frame my face.

As for accessories, they instructed me to wear my small pearl earrings and my necklace of brown braiding and a white sea shell pendant.

When they were done, Rose and Alice took a step back to examine their finished product.

"Perfect," they both chorused.

I looked in the mirror for the first time. It really was subtle. I was impressed. "Thanks guys," I said.

"No problem," said Alice.

I waited in the bedroom while Rose and Alice got them selves ready. Around half an hour later, they emerged. Alice gave herself smoky eyes as well, and a pink lipgloss slightly brighter than mine. She wore a long sleeved flowing emerald green shirt with an empire waist, dark jeans and matching green ballet slippers.

Rose used eyeliner and mascara to make her eyes pop, and wore red lipgloss. Her outfit consisted of a tight, red, long-sleeved shirt with a v shape neckline that dipped low enough for you to see the white lace cami underneath, as well as white skinny jeans and red 3-ince heals to make her legs even longer.

They both looked better than French models. Then again, they could wear rags and still look like the most beautiful women on the planet.

"Wow," I said, "You two look great."

"Thanks," said Rose. She checked her watch. "I gotta go. I'm meeting Emmett for breakfast before class."

"And I'm meeting Jasper at the lab," Alice added. They turned to me.

I shrugged. "I still have some time left before I have to meet Cullen, so I'll kill time reading."

"You sure Bella?" Alice asked.

"Definitely. You two go and aim at your new targets," I winked.

They both laughed and said, "Oh we will," before saying good-bye and heading out.

I shook my head. Those boys didn't stand a chance.

I went back to my dorm and grabbed my copy of _Pride and Prejudice_. I loved this book. It's all about overcoming first impressions and finding love. And Elizabeth Bennett is my favorite heroine. She's witty, clever, intelligent, and still kind. As I read through the story again, something was different. For some reason, I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind and I didn't know what it was. I ignored it and enjoyed my book (though I had it memorized).

A couple minutes before 7:45, I headed down and went to the front of the building the boys were staying at. Edward was already there, waiting.

As I walked toward him I noticed that, like Alice and Rose, the other girls seemed to have paid more attention to their looks today. Some had even started eyeing Edward, though he _seemed_ oblivious. I shook my head. _Ridiculous_.

"Good morning," I greeted politely when I reached him.

"Good morning," he replied. I saw a glint of amusement in his eyes. "So, what first?"

"First, I'm going to show you your locker," I said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"It'll have everything you'll need for you classes. I did mention no valuables were supposed to be kept in the dorms, didn't I?" I explained.

"You did," Edward said, "Let's get started, shall we?" He got up from the bench and we walked to one of the elevators.

We rode down to B1 and I took him to a large titanium door like the ones in front of the dorms. There were 5 scanners here also. Both of us did the scanners and headed inside. The room was brightly lit, with regular white concrete walls (though I knew that behind the concrete was a steel wall as well). The lockers were slightly bigger than normal lockers, except made of steel and instead of a dial, there were two scanners. Some people were already there. All of them immediately turned to look at us, before remembering their training and turning away, except for the freshmen, who continued gawking.

" _He's hot_!" one girl whispered (not well).

" _I know! I thought this was an all girls school!_"

" _Idiot! Remember what they told us about LVU? He must be from there_."

" _Why?_"

Ah, to be fresh out of high school, still coming down from the high of being seniors.

I cleared my throat. Edward was suppressing an amused smile. Well, at least he wasn't smirking.

"Hey everyone," I said nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened, "This is Edward Cullen. He's one of the exchange boys."

"Boys? Bella, I'm 21 years old. I think I've grown out of 'boy'," Edward insisted.

The freshmen giggled (wow, wonder what they used to be like when they were _high school_ freshmen), and the upperclassmen were all focused on us.

"No, actually, I don't think you have," I smirked.

Edward rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, that's Samantha…" I gestured to a dark blonde.

"Hello," Samantha greeted, eyes alight. I suppressed rolling my eyes.

"That's Casey,"

"Hey!" The redhead said perkily.

"That's Leah." She nodded stiffly, though her eyes were burning with interest. Leah, always the hard exterior.

"Sheila," a light haired brunette, "Mandy and Maggie—" two identical looking blondes, "Rita," a ravened-haired Italian, "Vanessa," another raven-haired, "and…" I continued pointing out various girls, who all greeted him warmly and a bit too interested, "and Angela," I finished, smiling.

"Hey, Bella. Hello Edward," she greeted timidly.

"Edward greeted them all together, "Hello ladies."

A few of the freshmen squealed under their breath. I sighed and walked over to them. Edward followed.

"Excuse me," I said.

They look petrified.

I smiled kindly, trying to calm them. "I'm sorry, you're blocking the door to our lockers," I said, gesturing to the steel door behind them.

They started to scramble away, probably afraid I would use from forbidden karate move or something. Ha.

"Wait," I called to them.

They froze, literally.

Over my shoulder, I said calmly with an amused smile, "You know, this isn't high school. There's no hazing or freshmen bullying or anything like that."

They looked like they didn't believe me. "Yea right," I heard one mutter under her breath.

"Seriously, here at ERU, no one's better than another," I said.

"Aren't you Bella Swan?" one brave girl asked.

"Er, yeah?" I answered hesitantly, not sure why they would suddenly ask that.

Five mouths popped open. "You're a double 0 agent! So is he!" They pointed to Edward, who was grinning.

I almost groaned.

Edward spoke up, "Yes, we are, but you can be too, if you work hard and take things seriously." Wow. Talk about cliche. I suppose it's true, but still.

"It's a wonder how you became one," I murmured.

He cocked an eyebrow, having had heard me.

I ignored him and turned to face the freshmen fully, "Really, though, status doesn't matter. And it's like Cullen said, anyone could be a double 0. And I would never have been if it weren't for my sisters. That's what I'm trying to say. Don't be afraid of us. We won't pull a killer move on you."

"Yet," Sheila grinned.

"Not helping," I said.

"Don't worry," said Casey, grinning also, "By the time that happens, you'll know of few killer moves too."

"No wonder they're terrified," I snorted.

"Um, okay…" one of the freshmen said before they scampered off.

I sighed. "Damn, what did you do to the poor girls?" I asked my ERU sisters.

They shrugged, though they looked amused.

I shook my head. "We have got to be the worst upperclassmen in the history of ERU. I don't remember the juniors acting like that to us."

"They'll loosen up eventually, don't worry," said Mandy.

"Yeah, but I feel bad," I sighed.

Sheila rolled her eyes. "You're way too nice, Bella."

There was a pause.

Everyone snorted except for Edward and me.

"I take that back," Sheila said.

"Why?" Edward asked curiously, gazing a Sheila.

She became a bit flustered and was unable to reply.

Casey answered for her. "Because there's a prison's worth of people that think Bella's they worst nightmare from hell."

"What is whit you people and saying those things? Sooner or later, people really _will_ be intimidated by me if you keep it up," I muttered.

Maggie rolled her eyes, "Relax Bella."

I stuck my tongue at her childishly. Edward chuckled.

I sighed, "We should get our stuff."

I took him back to the door and said, "This is where our stuff is. Palm, retina, and voice scanners. You first."

He completed the scanners and stepped through. I waited till the doors closed again, before doing them myself.

Edward was waiting for me on the other side. This room was much like the regular room, except here, there were only two lockers, and both of them were about three times the size of the regular ones. I pointed to the one that wasn't mine. "That's yours," I said.

He strode over there and I went to mine. "Palm, voice, and full body scanner," I said.

"Full body?" Edward raised his eyebrow.

"To make sure there's only one person," I explained.

"Oh."

"Grab the stuff I grab. You'll find out why we use them during class," I continued.

He nodded.

First I grabbed my equipment belt, put it on, then grabbed the pack. Edward copied. Then I grabbed the regular stuff, butting them in their respectful places. Weapons and gadgets in the belt, special equipment and items, including my laptop, in the pack. Then I grabbed my earpiece and placed it in my left ear. Finally I grabbed my practice mission clothes and stuffed them in the pack. Through all this, Edward did the same actions, only a second or so after I did them.

I threw the pack over my shoulders and looked at Edward, doing the same. "You ready?" I asked, grinning. The excitement to get back to my classes one over the guard I put when I was around Edward.

He gave one of the dazzling crooked smiles and said, "Let's go."

* * *

_A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know it's just a filler chapter, but hey, like I said, they are necessary to make the story flow._

_I hope you liked the chapter! Thanks again!_

_REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! (please?)_


	6. Gentlemen

_AN: I'm baack! Haha, you know what I found? Getting threats from people who actually know you in real life? MUCH more intimidating. Anyway, here's my news:_

_I FINALLY found a beta! Yay! Thanks gangstapenguinduck lover! You know what this means? No more grammar or spelling or typing mistakes! Starting next chapter, I mean, so you'll have to bear with me until then._

_Thank you to my two friends (you know who you are) in, er, pushing me to get this updated._

_I also have a treat for you all in this chapter! You'll know what it is when you see it._

_Sigh. It's late, and I am STILL not done my homework, so well today's AN isn't that long...it's supposed to be, I have lots of stuff I wanted to say, I just can think of it right now..._

_I hope you enjoy the chapter!_

_Thanks to all who reviewed!_

**Izy**: Thanks again for your review(s)! I'm glad you agree with me about the cuteness part!

_**IMPORTANT!!:**_

**EDIT: ACK! I have so many typos in here! Darn it! Um, please ignore the typos until I get around to editing. I was too focused on getting the chapter up to look it over. SORRY! I'll edit tomorrow!**

**EDIT: IT HAS BEEN PROOF READ! (To the best of my ability)**

* * *

Chapter 5: Gentlemen

--

**Disclaimer: Stop rubbing it in my face! I know I don't own!**

--

Edward and I made our way to our first class, Advance Sciences 4. We stepped into the classroom that was set up with three columns of lab tables. Kind of like a normal science classroom, except these tables were completely set up with almost everything a real laboratory scientist might use, from beakers and weight scales that measured to the 10 to the negative 6th power decimal place to spectrometers and partial MRI units. Maybe not the norm for regular schools, but it was at ERU. The classroom was also about twice the size of a normal classroom, and had two back rooms for closed-area experiments.

"Tune you earpiece to channel 341," I told Edward as soon as we stepped into the room. He nodded and did so, like me. At ERU and LVU, it was common for teachers to not actually lecture the class face to face. They'd talk through your earpiece and just monitor you from usually a far away location (coughtheteacherloungecough). By the time you're a senior, you'll be lucky to actually see your professor more than once every other month.

Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper were already there. They had taken two tables in the very back row. Edward and I walked to the table next to them, in the back corner. As soon as we sat down, Emmett had to comment, "Dude! I am so ready to make some mutant puppies!"

Edward snorted, "Puppies?" Jasper just shook his head.

"Yeah! I don't know about you, but those puppies? With the big, cute eyes? Way persuasive. It'd be awesome if we could use them to get information out of someone – 'cause who could deny a puppy? – then make the puppies turn into fierce monsters and sic them on the bad guys!"

This time, Edward shook his head. "You'd never know he has a 184 IQ." Jasper shrugged, Alice and Rose laughed.

"Actually, we do mutant birds instead," I told Emmett.

His eyes lit up. "Really? Awesome!"

I grinned.

Then there was a crackling in my earpiece. The entire class fell silent.

-- _Good morning class, and welcome to your first day of Advance Sciences 4_ -- the voice in the earpiece said. -- _I hope you all had a good summer. But summer is over. Time to get those genius IQ brains in gear. I'm Professor Banner, and that's all you need to know about me. Take out your laptops and go to my class roster. Mark yourself present. For future reference, I'll know if you decide to cut class, but mark yourself present anyway. But you're all seniors – oh, with a couple exceptions – and I suspect you already know that_--

We did.

After we set up our laptops and did what he asked, the voice came back. -- _Now, if you look at my page, you'll see the class syllabus. Look at it later. We have a lab to do._--

I heard Emmett whisper, "Yes!"

You see, we don't go through all that 'first day' stuff. You get to work right away, especially in classes like these.

-- _Today's lab is fairly easy. Simple biology, and a bit of chemistry. You have 5 slides of mutant cell…_ Emmett whooped at the word 'mutant' _…You are to identify the mutation, record the characteristics, identify possible causes, and summarize the history of the mutation. _

I found the slides in the slide rack. We had seven slides. Probably because of the whole double-0 thing.

-- _That's the easy part. Then you are to compose a cure for each mutation within the hour. Be detailed in your notes. I expect a full, complete lab report by the end of class. Begin_. -- The crackling sounded again, then was cut off.

Activity started with a boom. People were immediately setting up their microscopes and analyzing the slides. Edward glanced at our slide box.

"Seven?" he asked.

"Double-0," I responded.

"And how did he know we would sit here?" Edward asked.

"Because I always do," I said a matter-of-factly.

"In the back corner?" Edward said speculatively. He raised a brow.

"Let's get started, shall we?" I said, avoiding the question (not very subtly).

He looked confused, but handed me the first slide. "Ladies first."

I nodded in acknowledgement and popped the slide onto the stage. I switched it to 10000X objective and looked at the digital screen.

"Red blood cell. Its mutation is sickle cell," I said surely.

"Sickle cell?" Edward said, surprised.

I nodded, turning the screen to him.

"Why would he give us an incurable disease?" Edward wondered.

I grinned. "He never said cure the disease, just the mutated cell." Sickle cell anemia is indeed incurable. But recently, a government facility found a way to manipulated the red blood cells themselves in to the form of a normal red blood cell. However, it can only be used in small quantities, so it's useless in treatment. But for this lab? It was just what we needed.

"Right," Edward gave me a crooked grin of his own, making me catch my breath and avert my eyes.

He grabbed the Bunsen burner and lit it.

"Let's get to work."

--

Surprisingly, Edward and I worked well together. In a professional environment, that is. We were both disciplined enough to know how to work in a team, and our strengths balanced each other out nicely. I had the observational skill (though his were impressive, too), and he had the conclusatory skills (though mine weren't too shabby either). He had the quick reflexes (better than mine, at least), and I had the quick, purposeful movements (better than his. Notice the pattern yet?). It was like we were pieces to the whole puzzle. Just skill wise, I mean.

We finished about 15 minutes before class ended, even with the two extra slides. We sent in our reports and there was an awkward silence.

"So," Edward finally spoke, "Are you going to tell me why you always sit in the back corner?"

Damn. We were back on that subject.

"It's complicated," I said.

He rolled his eyes. "Complicated isn't in our dictionary, remember?"

I smiled, "Right." Spy rule number one: there is not such thing as complicated unless you want it to be.

"So…?" he trailed off suggestively.

"So what?" I said, turning away. I kept my gaze front.

"So are you going to tell me?"

I was silent.

"Well?"

"…"

"I guess that means no."

"…"

"Can you at least tell me why you can't tell me?"

"Why do you care?!" I snapped, whipping around to face him.

"You're the one making a bigger deal than it is."

"No I am not!"

"Ye—" he began.

"You wouldn't know if it's a 'bigger deal than it is', so stop pretending you do!" I exploded, giving him an angry glare.

All thanks to his stupid persistence, I could feel the memories pushing into the edge of my mind. _No!_ I _refuse_ to remember again! I just finished a summer of remembering, and this is supposed to be my haven! I would _not_ let some stupid, arrogant, cocky jerk disturb it!

Edward was surprised. "How can this be a big deal?"

"Like I said: You. Wouldn't. Know." I enunciated slowly, in _that_ tone again.

He still looked shocked. "I don't get it. Is it personal?"

I turned away, not answering. I focused on pushing the memories back again, to the edge of nonexistence in the black corners of my mind. Slowly, I fixed the walls keeping them there.

"Oh," he said in comprehension.

Yeah. 'Oh' is right.

* * *

**EPOV** (A/N: I know, finally!)

She was silent after I suddenly realized this was actually personal. But I couldn't understand _how_. How could this beautiful, intelligent, woman have had a rough past? I had thought that, compared to _my_ past, she probably had things handed to her on a silver platter. But there was no denying the pain and angst that flickered through her stunning features. What – no, _who_ – could have made things so bad for a girl who should have had a perfect life?

That girl, no woman, Isabella Marie Swan. Agent 006.

I remembered back to the first time I saw her. It was during one of LVU's visits to here, during my sophomore year. The guys were all excited. They relished any chance to see the famous, three stunning girls of ERU. Rosalie Hale, a blonde 'hottie' that knew cars, Alice Brandon, the tiny, pretty, genius wonder, and Isabella Swan, the attractive girl rumored to be the best since, well, me.

We did get a chance to see them. I had to admit they were all beautiful in their own way. Especially Isabella. I wasn't lying when I told her I preferred brunettes (Never knew why. Maybe it was because they tended to be a bit more down-to-Earth than the fake blondes).

They had passed by us. Just walked past, not giving us a glance, let alone a second. I didn't think twice about them either. I'd seen prettier (well, equally pretty, I grudgingly admitted later), and I figured they weren't any different from the rest of the dimwits out there, they just happened to have higher IQs.

I was naive back then, and I grew older, well, actually, I only grew slightly more interested. But only because of the fact that they didn't seem interested in me. But other than that, my opinion of Isabella Swan stayed the same.

Until I officially met her yesterday, that is. In a short amount of time, I figured out she was so much more. Strong, intelligent, deep, and as stubborn as a mule. She isn't interested in me at all. In fact, she seems to detest me. It was fascinating. Suddenly, I found myself caught up in everything she did. The banter between us was so _refreshing_, and I couldn't help but wish for more.

I was captivated by Isabella Swan, despite the amount of blows to my ego. She was _interesting_.

So the curiosity I felt when she made sitting in back corners into a big deal was expected.

What wasn't expected, however, was the sudden pull toward her when I saw that sadness and pain run through her, the sudden desire to comfort her and soothe her anguish, the sudden need to protect and shield her from the world (which is, kind of, stupid, seeing as we're hard-core trained government agents).

I shook my head, trying unsuccessfully to shake off these feelings. _She's just a woman_, I told myself, _You haven't even known her for more than a day. Besides, what could possibly be so bad? What problems could she possibly have that are worse than my own?_

While the thought of my past lessened the urges a little, it only made my curiosity heighten.

I studied her for a little longer, with her long, wavy mahogany hair (A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know, Bella is supposed to have straight hair. Deal with it. I've always imagined Bella as a wavy hair kind of girl, and since that little detail isn't actually in any of the books, it works), full lips a little too big for her heart-shaped face, and her porcelain skin. Unfortunately, I couldn't see my favorite part of her. And, no, it is not her chest. It's her eyes. They were deep, warm, and a chocolate brown you could get lost in. That was the feature that struck me the most when I first met her. They're also convenient methods to reading her thoughts, though they only help infinitesimally (A/N: Vocab word alert! Only a few know what I mean).

Bella is just so hard to interpret. Hard as I might try, I could not fully understand that furrow in her brow that did not seem to come from frustration, and I couldn't deduct what could be causing the harness in her usually soft face (except that one time at the restaurant. She really was scary).

I sighed in frustration. What is with this woman? Usually, I can read people very well, that's part of the reason I'm so good at what I do. But her, she was a mystery to me.

A couple minutes before the end of class, there was a crackling in our earpieces again.

--_Hello again. Hopefully by now I have your lab reports. If I don't, I highly suggest you either kick it up many gears, or drop out of advance. _

--_Well, now that we've gotten what we had needed to do out of the way, we can move onto trivial things. First, as many of you have noticed, we have exchange students with us, who all happen to be in this class at this moment. _--

"We're 'trivial'?" I heard Jasper mutter.

-- _Now, I myself studied at LVU, so I expect you to treat them with the same respect you treat me_. --

"Why does he talk like we're not listening?" I whispered.

"Because no on actually does at the end of class," Bella responded, playing with her watch. She gestured her head to the rest of the class. They were all in whispered conversations, giggling about something or other. "Bet you ten bucks they're all talking about you or your brothers," she continued, still not looking up.

"Us? Why?" I asked. Professor Banner was still speaking. I could see how the rest of class so easily tuned him out.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Because you and your brothers are the first males to stay here for more than a few days since, I don't know, three years ago?"

Oh. So she was talking about that.

I was use to women fawning over me. I found it enjoyable, actually, amusing. The kissing wasn't a con either (for the most part). But I never took it farther than kissing. Though they're great sources of distraction, I have enough respect to protect their, and my, virtues. I had honestly been offended when Bella insinuated that before.

Yet, I couldn't help but ask, "Are you jealous?" teasing her a bit.

Another roll of the eyes. She does that a lot. "You wish," she murmured.

I grinned at that. Yes, yes I did wish.

Finally, the bell rang, and we all filed out, just as Professor Banner barked, --_Your homework is on my website. Do it! _--

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Emmett as soon as we were in the hall, "We got a mutant zygote!" (A/N: What forms when egg and sperm meet. Just a little Bio/Anatomy lesson for you -)

"What?" asked Jasper.

"A mutant zygote!" Emmett repeated.

"And how did ERU get their hands on that?" said Jasper.

"A mother, who didn't even know she was pregnant, came in one of our clinics once, for a physical," Rosalie started.

"And, what, they stole it from her?" I asked.

Bella rolled her eyes. "No. She had a miscarriage, right there in the clinic. When she found out why there was blood gushing out of her, she was devastated, of course."

"Then she demanded we find out why her body rejected the egg. Turns out it was mutant. ERU kept it for records. After getting the mother's permission of course," Alice finished.

"That's a little sad," commented Jasper.

The girls smiled at him.

"Hey, why are you smiling at Jasper?" Emmett asked.

Rosalie rolled her eyes this time. "Because he's actually showing some sensitivity."

"I can be sensitive!"

I snorted, "Yeah right, you big oaf."

"Hey!" Edward said, indignant.

"Don't worry, Emmett. I know you're a softy on the inside," Bella said teasingly.

Alice giggled. "A giant teddy bear!"

Emmett looked satisfied.

I didn't get it. First the compliment for Jasper on sensitivity, then the say Emmett's a soft teddy bear? What's with women? I thought they liked masculine, tough guys.

I voiced this.

Bella shook her head. "Cullen, if you showed your gentleman side more often…actually, don't. You'd get am even bigger ego from the increase in girls you'd attract."

Huh? Gentleman side?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Girls like gentlemen," Bella explained, a bit reluctantly.

"Really? Why?"

"Because they're practically extinct."

"Seriously?" I asked. I thought that was a norm.

Jasper chuckled. "Edward, not all guys grow up with Esme, where you had to be a gentleman or else you'd feel her wrath."

"Trust me, you don't want to," Emmett added, talking to the girls.

Oh. Huh. I guess I never really realized. Maybe it was because my own mother before Esme had been the same.

"You get it now?" asked Bella.

"Wait, so-" I cut myself off, suddenly realizing something. My mouth pulled up into a sly grin. "So, do _you_ like it when I'm a gentleman?"

"Definitely. A lot better than your egotistical side." I didn't really get what the 'side' meant, but I just overlooked it.

"Really? I mean, do you actually like me when I'm being gentlemanly?"

"You're more tolerable," Bella answered. Not what I wanted.

"You're not answering my question."

She sighed. "Yes."

"Yes, you do like me when I'm a gentleman?" I said, trying to be absolutely clear.

"Yes," Bella rolled her eyes again.

I grinned. There's my ticket.

"Then that's all you'll see me being."

* * *

**BPOV**

By the time we had reached the hall, I was over my anger. It's not like it was Edward's fault anyway. To anyone but my friends, it _would_ be odd that sitting in the back corner is so personal. And he can't help but be curious. I suppose.

So as Edward said that dumb assumption that girls liked bad boys, it was only with my usual annoyed attitude and sarcasm I responded.

Imagine my surprise when he told me he would be a gentleman around me, always.

"Excuse me?" I asked, not sure if I should believe my ears.

"I said that if you like me being gentlemanly, then that's all you'll see me being with you," he repeated, "I _want_ you to like me Bella. I don't completely understand why you wouldn't like me in the first place," he winked, "But if we're going to spend the next year close to each other, you need to learn to deal with me— even better, like me, and if this is what I have to do for you to like me, then I'll do it."

I think I was in shock. I wasn't sure how to respond. There were only two things I was sure about. One, this is completely, absolutely, unexpected. And two, Alice has a very smug smile on her face.

I still had my responding dilemma. While my body decided to respond on its own accord by turning an embarrassing red, I was able to control it enough to shrug and say "Um, okay. Uh, we should get to our next class."

"Yeah, we're off," said Rose, waving and winking before dragging Emmett down the hall.

"Let's go," Alice sang, and skipped off. Jasper, Edward, and I shrugged at each other before following.

--

For Advance Technology, the classroom, of course, is a computer lab. However, _our_ computers consisted of three, flat-screened, touch screen monitors, and absolutely no wires. Even the keyboard was a touch screen, set into the desk.

"Channel 242," I told Edward and Jasper. They nodded and we all set our earpieces.

I walked over to the computer set in the back corner. Before I could sit down, however, Edward pulled my seat out for me.

"Gentleman, remember?" he said, a big mocking.

Oh. So _that's_ how it's going to be.

"In that case, thank you kind sir," I said sarcastically in my best British accent as I sat down (which was perfect, thank you. It's the first accent you learn at ERU).

"You're very welcome, miss," Edward said in a bit lighter of a tone, though his accent matched mine. He pushed in my chair.

"You two are so fun to watch," Alice commented, taking one of the computers next to me while Edward sat down at the other one. Jasper sat next to Alice, nodding.

"Your little matches are better than presidential debates," he commented.

"That's not saying much," I pointed out.

"True."

In case you're wondering, just because we work for the government does not mean we have to like politics. Sure, we had to pay attention to them, but it still doesn't mean we have to like them. (A/N: No offense or discrimination intended. I just personally don't like politics.)

The bell rang, and our earpieces crackled again.

--_Hello class. I'm Professor Raker. _-- a female voice said. –_I hope you've all had a wonderful summer. Please log on to your computers now. Figure out yourself how._--

We all did in less than 20 seconds.

-- _Good, everyone's here. I have a little pop quiz for you all. _--

Groans resounded around the room.

-- _Don't worry. It's more or less entertaining. We're testing hacking skills._ --

Sighs of relief replaced the groans.

-- _Launch '_Hacking 1'_ and reach your goal. Finish as early as you can. You may begin_. --

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alice's and Jasper's fingers already flying over the keys.

Launching the program, I flexed my fingers and got to work.

I looked at my screens. In the first, I coded a program to aid the protection of my computer. In the second, I coded another program I made for an extra credit project last year that helped hacking. Finally, in the third, I actually started hacking.

I reached the first firewall. Easy enough. Let the program do its work. I bypassed the virus trap and reached the next firewall. This one's a little harder. I gave program a little head start in code. Then I updated hacking program to this firewall's standard. Next, I got to what seemingly was a dead end. I analyzed the wall carefully. There was a hole. I coded in something to enlarge the hole and quickly I slipped through it. I was faced with a much more complicated security system.

I smiled.

It was good to be back.

--

Of course, about ten minutes before _I_ finished, Alice and Jasper finished. Geniuses.

I did, however, finish with about ten minutes to spare. When I had gotten to the goal, I had chuckled, just as Alice and Jasper did. The goal was a banner that said: CONGRATUALTIONS. YOU'RE NOT DUMB (for a spy).

The non-funny part of it? Yeah, Edward chuckled at the exact same time (Alice, of course, had to comment, but I'll omit that for the sake of, well, me).

The next thing I knew, I got an alert on my program. Some one was trying to make a link to my computer. I traced it, and…

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

I looked over to Edward, who smirked, but mouthed, "Let me on".

I sighed, but did anyway, just so I could tell him off without getting in trouble.

He made the link visible through a communication screen. A lot like IM, but ERU style.

**E**- Jeez, what do you have running?

**B**- A program. It's easy when hacking into something else they can hack into you.

**E**- I know that. But yours is pretty top-notch. I couldn't even get through it.

I rolled my eyes.

**B**- Shocker.

**E**- Is that sarcasm I sense?

**B**- Is there a reason you set up a communication link? Or was it just to annoy me.

**E**- Maybe I'm just bored.

**B**- So you're entertaining yourself by annoying me?

**E**- I don't annoy you, Bella. You get annoyed by me.

**B**- Oh, and that makes perfect sense.

**E**- I'm saying it's not my fault you get annoyed. You could stop yourself from being annoyed.

**B**- How can I when you're being annoying?

**E**- Only you think I'm being annoying.

**B**- Yeah, because I'm the only one who doesn't go ga ga over the sight of you.

**E**- Ga ga?

**B**- Don't ask.

**E**- Fine.

I was surprised.

**B**- You're actually not asking?

**E**- You asked me not to.

**B**- And you're listening?

**E**- For all I know, it could be just as personal as the whole sitting in the back corner thing.

Huh, so he was being sensitive. Well, now doesn't that make me feel self-conscious.

**B**- Oh, yeah. Thanks for letting that go.

**E**- No problem. It's personal. I understand.

**B**- Wow, you're actually being nice.

**E**- Do you want me to stop?

Was he doing this just for me? I highly doubted it. It did make be blush, but that wasn't what I wanted…

**B**- No, I want you to be nice because you want to be nice on your own. Because you want to be a good person.

**E**- What if I am trying?

**B**- Then get rid of the other faults, and you're good to go.

**E**- Other faults?

**B**- Figure it out yourself.

**E**- That's difficult.

Psh. That's the point.

**B**- We're government agents.

**E**- Right.

Well, at least he got my explanation.

**E**- So, can I ask you something?

**B**- Depends.

**E**- What's your favorite color?

**B**- What kind of question is that?

**E**- A simple one, but one I want to be answered.

**B**- Fine, it changes from day to day.

**E**- What is it today?

**B**- Brown, probably.

He didn't respond for a moment.

**E**- Interesting. Why?

**B**- Brown's warm. I just spent my summer in Forks, where everything is green and squashy. I missed brown.

Another pause.

**E**- You're right, brown is warm.

I didn't know what he was talking about.

**B**- I don't know what you're talking about.

**E**- I'm counting on that.

We 'IM'd for a little longer. Basically it was one-sided 20 questions. Edward asked me everything, from favorite gemstone to my favorite book. I never understood, though, why Edward was suddenly interested in the insignificant details of my life. But oh well.

Eventually, I asked,

**B**- Why are you asking all this?

**E**- I'm curious.

**B**- Obviously, but why are you curious.

**E**- Because you're different. You're not like everyone I know.

I stared blankly at the screen for a minute.

**B**- Compliment or insult.

**E**- Compliment. You're interesting.

I felt my face flush. _Stop it Bella! We've been through this! He's a player. And why would he even be interested in you? Other than the fact that you're probably the only girl that's rejected him_.

**B**- Sure.

**E**- Bella? I was serious about what I said in the hall. I want you to like me.

I was dumbfounded again. What was with him? Suddenly, he seemed…_decent_. Like he wasn't a total jerk. Granted, he was still smug, I could tell from some of his comments, but, it seemed, I don't know, more minor compared to the rest of his personality.

**E**- Bella?

I hadn't noticed how much time had passed as I was pondering this.

**B**- Sorry. Well, that's good…I guess. You're being very confusing, you know.

**E**- Hah. Have you thought about it from my point of view?

**B**- No.

**E**- Try.

I tried.

**B**- I don't know enough about you to do that.

**E**- Exactly. That's why I'm asking you this. I'm trying to decipher you, to see things your way, by getting to know you.

I felt a warm feeling inside me. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was there.

I glanced at him in person. He met my glance, and smiled another dazzling smile.

And this time, I smiled back. Our eyes connected for a second, some kind of magnetic force between them pulling us toward each other. In that moment, it seemed like I could _really_ see him, right through is emerald globes and into the true him, and I approved of what I saw. He looked like he could see me, too, and I let him. I ripped myself away, my heart pounding. I didn't even think to scold myself about letting my guard down. All I could think was, _What was that?_. I looked back at him. It was gone. That window into his soul was gone, and back was the exterior I knew. The smug, cocky, and womanizing exterior I was always annoyed at.

He was grinning too.

I sighed, narrowing my eyes a bit. But I felt playful, suddenly, mischievous. And just as the crackling resounded in my ear piece, I typed,

**B**- Still doesn't mean you have a chance.

And closed the window.

* * *

_AN: What do you think? In this chapter, we see the more indepth Edward. And we get an EPOV! How was it? Please give me constructive criticism! It's my first time doing anything from a guy's point of view, let alone Edward's, so I need feed back!_

_I hope you enjoyed it!_

_REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! _

**Edit: Okay, due to popular demand, and my very easily guilted conscience, I'm forgoing the with holding the update thing. BUT, please review? Pwetty pwease? How bout this, I'll set a goal. 15 reviews please! Don't worry, though, the goal will have absolutely nothing to do with when I update. Hopefully, that will be soon. **

Thanks!

_See you next time!_


	7. Weaknesses

_A/N: Hey, it's me again! I'm sorry for the really long wait. Look at it this way, it would have been an even LONGER wait if I hadn't decided (with the push of my beta and my friends), to split the chapter, so yeah._

_K, first and foremost matter of business: this chapter is beta'd! Yay! No more grammar mistakes! No more typos (I hope)! And it's all thanks to my wonderful beta **gangstapenguinducklover**. Let's give her a round of applause!_

_Also, thanks to those who reviewed! We didn't make the 15 reviews I was hoping for, we were 2 away, but it was still close. Still, I'm kinda hurt. Think we can make 15 this time?_

**Winterbabe101: **Thanks! I appreciate the review!

_Next...well, how bout I put it at the end, so you guys can get to the chapter!_

_Enjoy!!_

**Disclaimer: Sob…I want to own, I really do! But sadly, I can't.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Weaknesses

After second period, we headed over to my favorite class (of the required courses), Physical Training, or 'PT' for short. Unfortunately, I didn't have that class with either Rose or Alice, but it was still fun.

This was probably the only class where the teacher is actually there, so in the changing room, I took out my earpiece and put on my practice clothes: black sleeveless tank top, and black soft fitted pants. In the mirror, it looked like I was ready to sneak into a secret military base with all that black camouflage.

I met Edward in the classroom/facility we were supposed to be in for our first class of the year. I had to admit, I was impressed with the muscle you could see thanks to that tight black wife-beater and sweats he wore.

We walked in to find that the facility was basically completely sparring mats. _Yes._ I needed a good spar to release some pent up feelings.

While we were waiting for the teacher to get here, I introduced Edward to others, since we actually had time. They were all seniors, but they new me, and greeted us with friendliness (Okay, me with friendliness, Edward with a bit more).

My last introduction was to Tanya Denali.

"Hi Bella," she said, though she was eyeing Edward.

"Hello Tanya," I replied. I wasn't best friends with Tanya, but she seemed nice enough. She was a bit taller than me, with pretty, wavy, strawberry blonde hair that rolled on her shoulders, and light brown eyes. A field agent, and Rose had told me she was pretty good one at that ("Of course," Rose had said, "Not as good as you or me." I had rolled my eyes). She had two sisters. One was Kate, a junior and a good friend of mine. The other was someone I hadn't met, Irina, an LT and a sophomore. "This is Edward Cullen," I introduced. "Cullen, this is Tanya Denali."

Edward held out his hand, but instead of shaking Tanya's hand when she put it in his, he brought it up to his lips to kiss it. "Nice to meet you," he said. I snorted. _Always the charmer_.

"Likewise," Tanya smiled, looking at him appreciatively.

I rolled my eyes. She had to be the 18th person (which she indeed was; I counted.) to look at him like that. Come _on_ people! Have some dignity! Well, at least she didn't giggle.

Finally, the teacher came in.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, "I'm Coach Lia Burns. Coach Lia, to you. Alright, grab a partner and start to warm up while I take attendance."

Tanya looked up pleadingly at Edward. "Will you be my partner?" Oh God, get some standards.

Edward glanced at me. What, did he think he need permission?

I called out to Casey, who was in this class, "Hey Case! Partners?" Hopefully, I got my message across to Edward.

"You bet! I'm not going easy on you!" the red head replied.

I grinned and waved my hand as if to say "Yeah, yeah."

Edward was frowning a bit, but he shrugged and said, "Sure," to Tanya.

"Great!" Tanya exclaimed, and pulled him away.

I waved and mouthed 'Bye!' with a sardonic grin on my face, before making my way to Casey.

We did some stretches before mock fighting with each other. As I blocked one of her kicks, I couldn't help but notice Tanya and Edward warming up. They were doing the same as Case and me, sparring lightly with each other, or not.

Tanya was constantly giggling, and at one point, 'accidentally' letting the momentum of one of her swings carry her forward when Edward dodged so that she fell into his muscular chest. She giggle again as Edward steadied her by grabbing her waist. She smiled up at him and said, "Sorry" while he chuckled "No problem" (Ah, the joys of being able to lip read) still holding her waist.

I narrowed my eyes at them.

I was so preoccupied with glaring at them that I didn't notice Casey sweeping her leg out to trip me. I fell to the floor not very gracefully, but quickly recovered, moving to a crouching position so I could sweep my own leg out and hop up.

Casey dodged that, of course, but said, "What's with you, Bella? You hardly ever get distracted."

"It's nothing," I sighed, doing a roundhouse kick that she blocked.

She got a mischievous look in her eye. "It wouldn't happen to be because of Mr. Gorgeous and Tanya over there, would it?" as she did a right cross.

"No!" I said, ducking.

"Yeah right," she said, jumping as I tried to trip her again. "They look pretty cozy," she continued, sparing them a look.

"So?" I said as nonchalantly as I could while I blocked a punch.

"Aren't you jealous? I know I am," she commented while she tilted to the side to look for the right angle to come at me.

"Why would I be? You know I never liked him," I responded, faking left only to punch right. She blocked quickly enough, but winced.

Casey rolled her eyes. "Are you saying that green-eyes over there ­_isn't_ hunkalicious?" She tried an upward hook, which I quickly skittered back from. (Oh yeah, P.S. if you notice any incorrect naming of these fighting moves, feel free to change them. I know most of them, but I'm not sure about some)

I cocked an eyebrow. "'Hunk-a-licious?' What kind of word is that? And why do you never use his real name?" I said, edging forward again.

"Does it matter? And, you know, hunkalicious! Hot!" She fluttered her hands while she talked, a habit of hers. I saw my opening and lightly kicked the back of her knees so that they'd collapse underneath her, grabbing her right arm and twisting it behind her back. I didn't make the position too painful, just enough to immobilize her.

"Aw, dammit!" she complained as I hovered over her from behind.

"You really need to work on that habit of yours," I told her teasingly.

She sighed, "Yeah, yeah," shaking her red head. I let go and sat down in front of her. "But," she said, "You never answered my question. Are you denying that he isn't the greatest piece of meat you've ever laid your eyes on?"

"You need to find better comparisons. I can hardly believe you're twenty-one," I scoffed.

"Stop avoiding the question, Swan," she said impatiently, "Are you or are you not physically attracted to him?"

I sighed, giving in. "Well, yeah, I suppose…" I said, and she opened her mouth eagerly, a gleam in her eye. "But!" I added before she could comment, "That doesn't change anything. Yes, he's good looking, but that's pure fact. He's still an arrogant jerk."

I felt a shadow over me. "Who's an arrogant jerk?" a velvety voice cut in.

I turned and looked up to stare at the green eyes Casey had mentioned before. I was immediately lost in the intensity of them. They were really a beautiful shade of emerald green. And the way they managed to look so playful and light, and, at the same time, smoldering, momentarily dazzled me into incoherent thoughts.

That is, until Casey coughed.

I turned to her. It looked like she was laughing. I narrowed my eyes at her before Edward repeated, "Who's an arrogant jerk?"

By this time, I had regained my composure, so I was able to casually say, "Oh, you are." Edward smirked.

I heard a feminine gasp behind him. "Bella, that's not a nice thing to joke about." Tanya came up from behind him. My God, talk about clingy. There goes my previously indifferent but nice opinion of her.

"I wasn't joking," I said simply.

"She wasn't," Casey agreed.

Tanya frowned. "Eddie's not arrogant."

I guffawed, "'Eddie?'" and started cracking up.

Edward frowned. "Tanya, don't call me that please."

Tanya sighed, "But it's cute, don't you think?"

"Sure, _cute_," I said between laughs. "Isn't it, _Eddie_?"

Edward sighed. "Great. You finally said something that was remotely close to my first name and it has to be the nickname I despise."

"That's life, _Eddie_," I said when my laughs toned down.

"Compared to that, I'd rather be called Cullen," Edward said morosely. Hm, maybe we shouldn't push him any farther.

I gave a grin to cheer him up. "Got it, Cullen."

He gave a light grin in return.

Tanya, however, puffed up like a blowfish. "Now that those theatrics are over—"

"Theatrics caused by you," Casey pointed out.

Tanya ignored her. "My point was Edward is not arrogant."

I opened my mouth to tell her 'Only to suck-ups', but Edward beat me to the punch.

"Actually, Tanya, I've been told that so many times—namely by my brothers and my own parents—I've already accepted it as true."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Your own parents? Now that's sad."

He smirked again.

"See?" I pointed out, "He's even being arrogant about being arrogant!"

"Wow, Bella, great way to word it," Case laughed.

"Well, _I_ don't think he is," Tanya said, crossing her arms.

"And your judgment is definitely reliable, seeing as you've known him for all of, let's see, ten minutes?" I said. Tanya's frown deepened.

"It doesn't really matter," Edward intervened, "At least I'm not denying it, isn't that a start?"

"I suppose, but the step that matters is trying to do something about it. Unfortunately, arrogance is the least of your problems," I said.

Before Edward got a chance to respond, Coach Lia called us to the center.

"Alright," she said when we had all gathered, "Nice to see everyone. I already told you I'm Coach Lia, and welcome to Physical Training. For those of you who haven't already figured it out, this is a course required of everyone, even if you're an LT. And if you _are_ an LT, don't think I'm going to cut you any slack, because there will be times when we need an LT on the field, and the best we can do is give them basic physical skills.

"We're going to start off the year with some sparring matches…" Cheers went around the group. Coach rolled her eyes. "Before anyone goes and declares war on someone, I'm picking the first two opponents. Let's see…" she scanned around the circle, and her eyes landed on Edward. "Ah, I forgot we had an exchange student. Edward, right?"

Edward nodded.

"Alright, let's see what you LVU boys can do." She jerked her head to the center of the circle. Edward got the message, and 'entered the ring', so to speak, grinning.

"Hmm…," Coach pondered, "I heard you're pretty good, so I'll match you up with…Swan! You're up!"

I raised my eyebrows. Me, spar with Edward? Well, this should be interesting. I stepped into the ring also.

"Test him, for me," Coach said, a grin on her face. Edward's own grin grew bigger and I cocked an eyebrow.

"Whatever you say, Coach," I said. She went to join the circle and everyone took about five steps back.

I set my feet apart slightly diagonally, and raised my arms casually in front of me to a ready position. Edward did the same. "Alright, Cullen. Give me everything you've got. And don't even consider saying that you 'don't hit girls' or any of that crap."

"I wasn't planning on it," he grinned before setting things off with a sidekick.

I blocked it easily with my arm—I had to admit, I was impressed by the force of it—and slammed it back down, following it up with a right hook.

He blocked that easily and tried to grip a hold on my arm. I quickly pulled back and tried a high kick to his chin.

He ducked to dodge and swept his leg out to trip me, half supporting his weight on his arms. As I jumped to avoid it he sprang lithely to his feet and did a standard kick. I only had enough time to cross my arms in front of my face to block, but the force still pushed me back a few steps, and I could feel a dull throb on my arms from the contact.

I positioned myself in ready position again and grinned. This was fun.

He grinned back. "You're pretty good."

"Thanks. At least I know they didn't make a total mistake accepting me here," I replied.

He just smiled and approached again.

* * *

Punches and kicks were exchanged for the next ten minutes. It was a pretty good work out. Our classmates on the sidelines had long since sat down, leaning back on their arms or the walls, chatting.

I was panting, sweat pouring off my body. His breath was ragged too, but he still managed to say, "How long are you going to keep doing this?" while grinning.

"Until one of us goes down," I replied, blocking his kick and doing a roundhouse of my own.

"And who do you think that will be?" he said, blocking my kick.

"I don't know." I pulled my leg back and he flung a right forward.

"Oh really?" he said as I slammed his arm down to prevent contact.

"Really." I tried to trip him. He dodged easily, taking a few steps back.

"So, do you like to spar?" he asked as he threw another punch.

I knew what he was doing. Underneath that easy grin, he kept a small smirk. He was drawing out the conversation, which, this late into the match, would either a) tire me out and leave me even more breathless, b) distract me enough for there to be an opening in my guard, or c) both 'a' and 'b'.

I've had experience in this tactic before, though. When I had to fight an enemy on a mission, they would usually try and talk me out (or, in most guy's cases, flirt with me).

I knew his little strategy wouldn't work, so I just replied nonchalantly, "Yeah. It helps me release some pent up emotion," as I aimed a kick to his hip.

"And are you releasing them now?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of emotions?"

"Right now, mostly just some stress."

"Stress from what?" He actually looked concerned.

"No, it's not from you," I said teasingly, "Even if you did stress me out, which I'm not saying you don't, I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of knowing that."

He fell into a lax grin. "Of course."

Throughout our conversation, we continued to exchange punches and kicks in a loose draw. I wanted to end this fight before the end of the period, so I stepped it up a notch, putting some aerial moves in (no, not like those weird, unrealistic, Japanese samurai moves where suddenly gravity doesn't apply). He did the same.

As I prepped for a spin kick, he surprised me by going, "You know, Tanya is very pretty."

I faltered a bit, and my kick ended up being meager. He took the chance to trip my landing. I quickly pulled myself together in time to do a backhand flip to get back on my feet before I ended up on my ass.

My eyes widened. "What?"

"I said Tanya is very pretty," he said calmly, flinging another punch.

Where the hell did that come from? How did we get from small talk to…to…this?

I quickly blocked as I pondered this. "May I ask why you're telling _me_ this?" I said annoyed. It was like he was trying to get me jealous or something…n-not that it was working. I returned the punch.

He dodged easily. "I though I would let you know," he said, a smirk beginning to form on his face. I narrowed my eyes. He _was_ trying to get me jealous! And he was enjoying this too!

"Well, I don't want to know about your women conquests, got it?" was my brilliant reply.

"Why not? And they're not 'conquests', though they are entertaining," he smirked. I took a furious kick to his chin. He ducked.

Shit! I was so preoccupied in my kick that I didn't notice his leg sweep out to trip me. I collapsed underneath him and he fell with me. He pinned me underneath him, his hands locking around my wrists and holding them to the ground on either side of my head.

He lowered his head to my ear to murmur, "Does that make you upset?", his breath tickling my neck.

I was dazed at first, wrapped up around the feeling of his body on top of mine, and his hot breath on my ear. I was hyper aware of every point where his body, rough against me, touched mine. It felt like there was an electric current running between us, heating me up from my core, making me even more breathless, my skin more flushed.

That lasted barely a second, though. I quickly snapped out of it and kicked him off me before I took too much time to think about the feelings he caused to bubble up in me which just his touch.

He stood up and relaxed into another fighting posture, a grin twitching on his face. My ire from before quickly returned, growing the more I saw that smug face. I crouched on my feet, glaring furiously at him. How _dare_ he? It's bad enough he treats women like toys, but now he's boasting them to me?!

I charged at him, kicking from the side. He shot my leg down easily and tripped me again, and this time he did not fall with me. He just stood over me and said, "You might want to calm down, Bella."

I growled. I actually growled—I was that angry. I sprang back to my feet and was about to charge again, when I came to a sudden halt. I'd realized what he was doing, and that stopped me in my tracks immediately.

He was purposely trying to make me angry! He was trying to raise my temper to make me rash and aggressive to cloud my judgment! That—that—"Bastard!"

He raised an eyebrow, as if to ask what he had done to elicit such a vulgar response. But I knew that _he_ knew what I was talking about—I could see it in his eyes.

What he said next confirmed my suspicions.

"You know, Bella, that temper of yours is your weakness."

I narrowed my eyes.

But, while I was outraged, while I was so mad that my vision was tinged with red, the most internal part of me was…smug.

I bowed my head, listening to my body. Anger flowed through my veins, and I could feel my temper coming through. Quickly, I took deep breaths and channeled that anger to my senses, to my focus. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me, and I put it to good use.

I raised my head, focus restored, senses sharp, and limbs stronger than they were when this fight first started.

The look on my face, hard as steel, must of startled Edward. His confident smile faded just a bit. I repositioned my stance and stared, coldly, solidly, and unmoving.

"Well, are you going to come at me or not?" he grinned, but his countenance was just a little bit more nervous.

"Do you want me to make the first move?" I asked, absolutely no emotion or depth in my voice.

"Oh shit," I heard someone whisper. Edward looked at her from the corner of his eye. It was Casey. She was sitting against the wall nearest to us. Everyone around her who could get a good view of me was shaking their heads. Even the coach was sighing.

The red head shook her own head. "Big mistake Edward," I heard her say.

I didn't let him reply.

I swung my leg high, aiming for his chin. He quickly tried to back out of my range. Under normal circumstances, his speed would have been more than fast enough.

Unfortunately for him, these were no longer normal circumstances.

Despite his speed, my foot still grazed his chin enough to tilt it upwards. He stared at me in surprise.

"Pay attention," I said simply, before spinning with my torso in a tilted position to kick him with my heel. He stuck his arm to the side to block and winced when I made contact.

I held my foot there for a split second longer before turning my foot and hip into an abnormal position to hook around his wrist and yanked my foot down. He staggered and murmured, "Ow."

He tried an impressive round house, but I deflected the move easily. At the exact moment, he swept his leg out, I jumped into an aerial kick.

I made direct contacted with his gut.

His torso contracted and he staggered back several steps. "_Ow,_" he said, putting his hand where I'd kicked him.

"What's with you?" he asked, dumbfounded.

I only looked at him coldly.

"It's like you're a robot," he elaborated.

I sighed. This fight had gone on long enough.

He shrugged when I didn't reply, and carefully inched forward. He poised for a punch, and when he did let his fist loose, I turned my head so that it rushed past me. When his arm became fully extended from the momentum, I grabbed it, turned my back to him with his arm still in my grasp and levered on my shoulder, and pulled. Quick as a flash, I had him on the ground, with me straddling his torso, and one of my arms extended so that two fingers were on his neck directly beneath his jaw, my sharp nails digging in to the skin there. He tilted his face up slightly in reaction and stared at me in disbelief.

"You're right," I said coldly, locking my gaze on to his eyes and holding it there. "My temper is my weakness. But I already knew that. I figured it out myself and was able to train to do something about it. Now, my anger becomes my strength, because now I can channel the adrenaline that comes from fury to my focus and use it to enhance my body's senses and abilities.

"But you, you don't even realize what your weakness is. Correction—weaknesses. So I'll tell you. You're arrogant, over confident, and manipulative. That last one could be useful, as _persuasion_, but you choose to use it for wasteful, stupid, and wrong things. You use it on women, not giving a damn about their side. Despicable," I spat.

I continued, "All three is what gets your guard down, and distorts your perspective. That's dangerous, especially in our line of work. And until you conquer them…"

I leaned in to get right in front of his face and said with dead seriousness, "You'll get yourself killed."

* * *

_A/N: Hello again! I hope you all liked the chapter! Yes, the preface was in here. Tell me what you think!_

_Okay, there's some other stuff I wanted to say. First, am I the only one who's positively SQUEALING at the fact that the TWILIGHT MOVIE COMES OUT IN A LITTLE OVER THREE WEEKS?? SQUEAL! _

Okay, I don't have a webcam, so I'm putting all my thoughts here:

Final trailer:

A. M. A. Z. I. N. G. I've watched it hundreds of times. I gotta admit, I like that Lord-of-the-Ringish chamber music they have in the beginning. The car crash looks so much better and I'm psyched about the tree climbing (Personally, I think it's very romantic, and wouldn't put it past Edward to do that). I was squealing over the apple trick and the whole, "What if I'm the bad guy" lines, as well as other very familiar ones. I almost fainted at the kissing scene (very HOT btw! I like it, you can tell there's the tension, but still the chemistry, the chemistry!). And that last line? "You are my life now"? SSQQUUEEAALL!!

TV hotspot 1:

IT'S PORT ANGELES! PORT ANGELES! AND A FISH TAIL! And the "You do this alot?" line + that totally swoon-worthy smile that Rob/Ed gave? PERFECT.

TV hotspot 2:

More hot make out scene! Yay! And about the Bella only in undies thing. It's not that big of a deal, to me at least. I sleep in t-shirt and undies all the time. Bella likes comfortable, remember? And besides, it's not like she's wearing a thong or lace or anything like that. It's just some gray "granny panties", to put into the words of a commentator I liked.

TV hotspot 3:

K, am I the only one who thinks the voice over dude is hilarious?

TV hotspot 4:

AWESOME! I loved the "Can you at least act human? I mean, I've got neighbors" line. So cute and funny! I also like that last line that Renee says: "Is he a jock?" My friend and I had fun coming up with answers to that one.

New cafeteria scene:

LOVED IT! The acting was great, and they kept alot of our favorite quotes in there. It also show's Bella's insightfulness and how well E and B really know each other.

Oh, and I just have to put out there: the MTV twilight tuesday (recent one)? That was hilarious! My favorite part was the Nikki and Emmett question of who's the worst stuntman, and the both said "Rob" at the same time. Lol, poor rob. And the mountain goat? Now whenever I think of Rob/Ed running, I think of mountain goat. I cracked up for a good 5 minutes after that. I'm not upset, because, hey, with special effects it looks awesome, and we gotta cut Rob some slack. I mean, as much as we'd like to think otherwise, he's NOT a vamp. He's just human : )

Soundtrack:

Decode song: TOTALLY FREAKING AWESOME! The music video looks good so far too!

Supermassive Black hole: They REALLY should of chosen a different Muse song. Much as I like Muse, I do NOT like this song. I wish they'd put "Time is Running Out", it's a much better song.

Going all the Way by Peter Farell: I'm sorry to say that I think this song belongs in a strip club. I get how they could use the chorus and bridge in the movie, but they shouldn't of put it into the soundtrack. It wasn't even brand new. You could find it on youtube LONG before it came out on steph's website.

Full moon: Little repetitive, but other than that, pretty good.

Tremble for My Beloved: Love it.

Flightless bird, American mouth: Aw...It's so sweet. I really love it.

Bella's lullaby: Sigh. I'm kinda disapointed. It's pretty, but the piano part is WAY to simple for Edward. I could play it in my sleep (I've been playing piano for 10 years now). I expected more complexity, more piano, and less background instruments. It's also way to short. In my opinion, Bella's Lullaby shoud be something like "The River Flows in You" by Yiruma (It took me a month to learn that song. It's so beautiful). Also, Carter's song is too...tranquil. Bella's lullaby is supposed to have some trouble in it, a bit angsty, reflecting Bella and Edward's relationship.

Still, I'm definitely buying the CD tuesday. I want that Rob song!

_So, that's the end of my very long A/N. Thanks!  
_

_From now on, I'm putting my opinion on news on Twilight on my profile too!_

_So, I hope you liked!_

_REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW (please!). They touch my heart!_


	8. Important Please read!

A/N: Hey! Heh heh….heh heh…heh heh….

Uh yeah…don't kill me please.

I realize that it has been FOREVER since I've updated, and I know that I left you guys at a climatic event, and I really appreciated all reviews, but I had a little road bump to overcome.

See, my dad saw all the emails I got from the site, and well, kinda freaked out.

So for a while, actually, not a while, I still am, banned from ff(dot)net. But don't worry I'm not that much of a do-gooder to listen to that. I have managed to still read some stories, but I knew that, at HOME at least, I could never get enough time on the computer by myself to update.

Emphasis on 'home'.

I realized (just recently, I might add. Yes, I know I'm slow) that my school didn't have a block on ff(dot)net (kind of stupid, with all the 'M' rated stories out there, but shhh…). So, I'm going to TRY and update as much as I can from school. That's how I'm posting this little annoying A/N.

This means the following;

One, updates will be slower. But be patient, I WILL update

Two, to make up for the slow updates, I'll try to make the chapters as long as possible, but I'm not guaranteeing it.

And Three, I won't be able to have a beta, because I'll just be focused on getting the update up as soon as possible, and I won't be able to check my account daily. Therefore, there will be typos. Lots of them. And I'm apologizing for them before hand. Sorry!

So…hopefully this will work out till I get a laptop of my own…

Just remember not to kill me please!

Thank you all SO much for your patience and support!

Much love,

skyisthelimit


	9. Ladies and Gentlemen, Ballroom Dancing!

**A/N: Hi guys! Don't shoot me! Don't send evil ducks at me either! I'm sorry! I meant to update sooner, but then I had all these last minute school projects, then I had midterms. But finally I had a couple snow days where I could work on the chapter. Well, anyway, enough excuses, I'll put anything I have to say at the bottom, so that you can go straight to the chapter, kay?**

**Btw, thank you to all who reviewed, signed or anonymous. I'm sorry, I really don't have the time or the leisure (remember, banned from here, which is why I'm currently updating in the middle of my computer science class right now) to reply to each and everyone of them. But thank you, and I greatly appreciate the reviews!**

**P.S: This is unedited, and not proofread. Remember, don't have the time for a beta T-T. Though thanks gangstapenguinducklover, for being my beta when I could have a beta!  
**

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* * *

**Chapter 7: Ladies and Gentlemen, Ballroom Dancing!

* * *

**Disclaimer: What disclaimer? ~tries to sneak away with twilight~ Okay, okay. Sigh, yes yes, I know. I do not own. (Also, I did base some stuff in this chapter from the Gallagher girl series and one of the Harry Potter movies. Cookies for those who guess what! You must tell me in a review :) )  
**

* * *

I got off him quickly, leaving him shocked and flat on his back on the floor. As I walked way, the girls were shaking their heads at Edward, while looking at me with a mixture of amusement and caution. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. Ow. Here comes the muscle pain. I was out of practice.

Coach Lia approached me as I reached the edge of the ring. Her eyebrow was quirked. "Nice fight, Bella. Though that wasn't supposed to be a fight. It was supposed to be a sparring match between two comrades."

I frowned. Comrades? I don't think so. "He put up a good fight. I was just matching him. It was a fair fight, even if he _was_ being an arrogant, cocky, sick bas—"

She raised her hand to stop me. "I don't know or want to know the details. The point is, I know ERU taught you better than to leave a defeated opponent in a friendly match like that. It's rude."

I opened my mouth.

She didn't let me speak. "I don't care if he's a slimy pig—" Hm. That's a possibility. "—it doesn't mean we have to be too."

I sighed. Rubbing my neck. I turned to look at Edward. He wasn't lying on the floor anymore. Instead, he was sitting, his elbow resting on a bent knee, and his other hand was kneading his shoulder muscle. His tousled bronze hair was more disheveled than ever, and those emerald green eyes were pensive. His impressive, but not too bulky arm muscles contracted with each movement, and I couldn't help but stare. After a moment, though, I remembered what I was supposed to be doing and flushed.

Coach Lia was right. I shouldn't treat him like scum for this. He was just using the best strategy he determined, based on what he knew about me. At least, I _think_ he was just using it as a strategy. The point is, perhaps I haven't reined my temper in enough.

I bit my lip and approached him. He was staring fixedly toward the ground, so I held my hand out to him. And offer.

He slowly looked up and seemed a little surprised. I gave him a tentative smile. "Good match?"

He looked at me for a second, before giving me his crooked smile. "Yeah." He took my hand and immediately my small fingers were engulfed by his own. I noticed that his fingers were long, not thin, but sinewy. Pianist fingers, I realized, or at least, good for playing the piano.

He got up and dusted himself off. He grinned down at me and said, "You really are kind of scary, you know", his green eyes teasing.

I mocked-punched him in the shoulder. He pretended to wince. "you got some pretty good kicks in there yourself. Didn't your mother teach you better?"

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "'Don't even consider telling me you 'don't hit girls' or any of that crap'?" he quoted me, attempting (badly) to imitate my voice.

I fluttered my hand at him. "Details, Details," I said, "And I do not sound like that!"

He snickered, "Says you."

I glared at him.

I opened my mouth to do a bad imitation of him in return, when I heard a very unwelcome voice.

"Edward!" Called Tanya, coming over. I groaned. Edward smirked at me.

"Shut up, _Eddie_," I said, glowering. He held up his hands in surrender.

By this time, Tanya reached us. "Edward, are you okay?" She turned to me. "It was just sparring. You didn't have to kick him in the gut like that."

I shrugged. "He provoked me. He'll be fine."

"Sure, _he'll_ be fine. _He'll_ just have a bruise for the next few days," Edward quipped, rubbing his stomach. "That _hurt_," he told me.

I cocked my eyebrow at him. "I'm sorry, I thought I was sparring with a double-0 government agent."

He grinned, shrugging.

--

After a few more sparring matches, a couple of in-the-showers-catching-up conversation, and a minute lecture about how summer isn't an excuse to get lazy, PT ended, and Edward and I headed for Social Customs. We met Jasper and Alice at the door, but they weren't going in.

"What's up, Jasper?" Edward asked, clapping him on the back. I looked to Alice for information. She merely smirked and nodded toward the door. I stared carefully, and realized there was a small scratch on the glass – the universal (spy) indicator of invisible ink. I sighed and Edward and I took out our heat sticks and waved it over the door.

- _Students of Social Customs 3, report to Recreational room 2_-

My eyes widened. I groaned. Alice started laughing.

"What is it?" Edward asked.

I just hung my head, shaking it slowly. God this will be humiliating.

"Recreational room 2 – a.k.a. the ballroom," Alice giggled.

"So?" Edward asked. "What's wrong Bella?"

I waited for Alice to answer for me, but there was silence. I looked up to see everyone staring at me, including Alice.

I sent a pleading look towards her. She wouldn't really make me say it would she? Not in front of Edward and Jasper. My face was already as red as a cherry.

She merely quirked an eyebrow at me and I could see her mouth twitching into the beginnings of a smirk.

I sighed, turning a shad redder. "I can't dance," I muttered, "At all."

Edward's eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?"

"I can't dance," I repeated, my face growing unbearably hot.

Alice explained, "When she's not on a mission, or a mission-like situation, Bella is as klutzy as, well, let's just say she's very klutzy."

Edward blinked, as if having a hard time believing it.

I sighed, preparing myself for an hour of humiliation. Right on cue, I tripped over my own two feet as I walked past him and away from the door. Before I could catch myself (or fall and meet my good old friend – the ground), Edward grabbed my waist to steady me, and my hands automatically when to his arms. I think I invented a new shade of red that day.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked.

"Um, yeah," I said, keeping my eyes down.

"That's surprising. I wouldn't have thought you a klutz," he mused.

At this I raised my eyes to meet his. Again, our eyes met for a split second, and it was like I was lost, or floating. His hands felt warm on my waist and I unconsciously tightened my grip on his forearms. That is, until Alice coughed.

I snapped out of it and quickly pulled away, looking down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alice grinning. What's with me? Why am I getting all flustered around _Edward_?

I took a deep breath and tried to cool down my face as much as I could. I raised my head to find Edward with a strange look on his face. Like he was pondering something.

Alice linked her arm with mine as Jasper clapped Edward's shoulder. "Come on, Bella! Let's go!"

I took another deep breath to clear my head and said, "Alright."

--

EPOV

Well, my time at ERU has certainly been…interesting. Especially today. I was beaten by Isabella Swan.

I'm not even exactly sure how it happened. One minute, I'm winning, and the next, she kicks me in the gut. She had turned into a machine, almost. Cold, hard, and practically invincible. She was terrifying, but beautiful.

I have to admit, I _did_ provoke her a little. Okay, a lot. But I had my reasons. One, I wanted to distract her. Two, I wanted to figure her out.

She was so…intriguing. There are some times where she treats me like vermin. Other times, she's playful, entertaining, but still strong. And there are times when I think – I feel…that she feels…something. Like every time our eyes connect, or that time I could feel the curves of her fit body underneath me. That brief moment of connectedness as our blood pounded together. That is, until she kicked me off/

And then, just now, as my arms were around her slim waist, and for a second she tightened her grip on my arms, like she didn't want to let go. And to be honest, neither did I.

I wasn't used to this. I wasn't used to being so _attached_ to a woman. What was wrong with me? Why do I have this urge to open up to her, to make an actual connection with her, something that I've never done since…that incident.

I pondered this as we made our way to ERU's so called "ballroom." That had surprised me. A ballroom? Why would a government training facility have a ballroom? I mentally shrugged. ERU was _very_ different from LVU. Or maybe I felt that way just because Bella was at ERU.

We had to go upstairs to the main floor. Apparently, the school felt no need to hide a ballroom. I snorted.

Bella quirked an eyebrow at me as the elevator zoomed up ten feet. "What?"

"I was wondering why you had a ballroom," I answered, "And why it's part of the 'training', thought it's on the top floor."

"I wonder the same thing sometime," Bella muttered, pouting a bit. I fought to urge to run my thumb over those full, adorable lips.

Alice let out a tinkering laugh. She reminded me of a pixie sometimes. Or Tinkerbell. "Bella, stop sulking. I don't mind the dancing at all."

"That's because you have the grace of a prima ballerina," she replied.

"You have grace too, just not when you're off duty." Bella flushed again.

Jasper brought the topic back to my question. "Why _is_ there a Social Customs course?"

"It's for long-term mission," Alice replied.

"Or hiding in plain sight," Bella added.

"Or anytime you have to publicly infiltrate an enemy's domain," Alice finished. "ERU women can blend into anywhere, no matter what the customs of the region are."

Made sense. Actually, it was very sensible.

"Hunh," I said.

Bella rounded on me. "What, you think it's a waste of time or something?"

"What?" I said, confused.

"You were laughing, Cullen," she accused.

"No, I wasn't," I said, still confused. "I said, 'hunh'"

She opened her mouth to respond, but then the elevator doors opened, and she just shook her head at me, walking out. Jasper shrugged and started to follow.

When Jasper was slightly ahead, Alice sighed. "Sorry about that."

I frowned. "I don't get her. Sometimes, she treats me decently, but other times, it's like I'm the scum of the earth.

"It's not you she thinks is the scum of the earth. She treats _you_ decently. The type of _man_ you are, however, she thinks is the scum of the earth," Alice explained. But I still didn't understand.

She noted the confusion in my face and elaborated, "Players. Womanizers. She hates them. Absolutely despises them."

My mind filled with realization. And flooded with more questions.

I wasn't exactly proud of the way I was with women, but…it…I had reasons. But I won't think of them. It's too painful.

The point is that most don't mind too much. Women still fell over me, regardless of knowing beforehand my nature. Most guys patted me on the back. And I never took it too far. Nothing past first base. Of course, I knew there were many who didn't approve, but I could definitely see that Bella _detested_ it.

"Why?" I asked Alice.

She scrutinized me. Then she smiled…schemingly? "You'll have to ask _her_ that. But I'd do that when you tread in safer waters." Then she pranced ahead to link arms with Bella, leaving me to decipher her cryptic little messages.

--

"Ballroom dancing is a very important tradition, demanding many things," Professor Cyllis said as she danced with an imaginary partner around the large circle the students had me. "Girls, you must be graceful, like swans." She gave a flutter of the arms and somehow managed to half-dip herself. "Gentlemen, you must be agile and powerful, like lions."

I growled under my breath, grinning.

Professor Cyllis came to a sudden stop, turning abruptly to face me. "Mr. Edward. Thank you for volunteering." I gave a sheepish smile.

Bella snickered a little. Cyllis turned her sharp gaze to her. "Ms. Swan, since you're so eager to be his partner, I'll oblige."

Bella's jaw dropped. "B-but—!" she started to stutter. Cyllis gave her a warning look. She fell silent in submission.

When she started to take a step, however, Cyllis stopped her. "Un unh uh… The ballroom dance always begins with the gentleman asking the lady for the dance," she said, throwing a pointed glance at me.

My mouth twitched. I quickly stepped in front of Bella, taking her hand and bowing over to kiss it. Her skin felt soft under my lips, and my eyes couldn't help but smolder as they looked up in to hers. I gave my most charming crooked smile. "May I have this dance miss?" I asked, making my voice as smooth as possible.

I knew some girls near us were swooning, but I didn't see. I couldn't tear my eyes away from those melted-chocolate depths for the life of me. I knew she couldn't either. Her skin flushed as she gave a small, shy nod.

"Very good Mr. Edward," Cyllis disrupted the connection between Bella and I. "Now lead her to the floor."

When I did so, Bella seemed to have regained her composure, and took the chance to warn me, "Are you sure you're okay with this? I'm almost positive I'll step on your toes."

I grinned at her, reaching the center of the circle. "Don't worry, steeled-toe boots are standard dress at LVU." She raised her eyebrows. "Besides, it's all in the leading.

Cyllis had caught the last part I said. "Yes, it is all in the leading. Ms. Swan will be depending on you, Mr. Edward." I nodded, and smiled at Bella, who was staring at the ground.

"Now, we'll start off with a standard slow waltz. Mr. Edward, place your right hand on her waist, and raise your other hand to about shoulder level." I did so.

"Good. Ms. Swan, place your left hand on his shoulder, and gently rest your right hand in his hand." She did this shyly, and I felt waves of electricity flow through me, originating from where her hand touched mine. I was shocked (no pun intended). This seem to happen every time we had skin to skin contact. I gazed at my partner curiously, wondering if she felt it too.

"Good. Now, the waltz is a progressive, three-step dance. Ms. Swan, as the lady, you will always step back first. You start off with your right foot, and the pattern is back-open-close. Back with your right, open with your left, then close again with your right again.

"Mr. Edward, it is the exact opposite. You start with your left foot, and go _forward_-open- close. Forward with your left, open with your right, close with your left. Now try it."

We did so, a little awkwardly on Bella's part. "Okay," Cyllis continued, "Now try turning."

This time, Bella stumbled, and actually did step on my toe. There were a few snickers around us, and Bella blushed three shades of red. She mumbled something that sounded like "I told you so," glaring at our feet.

"Try again," Cyllis said gently, "And remember what you said Mr. Edward. It's all in the leading."

I nodded. Towards Bella, I said, "Relax." Gently, I led her through the steps, turning.

"Very good," the Professor nodded. Bella blushed deeper. She was starting to resemble a tomato. "Now try with the music."

She pressed a button on a small remote she had. A soft, orchestra concerto played. Again, I led Bella, each set of steps soon melting to the next.

"Excellent, excellent. Now everyone, pair up!" Cyllis went off to the other students.

"This isn't so bad, is it?" I grinned down at Bella, who shrugged. She was studiously looking down at her feet, a furrow in her brow. It looked as if she was focusing all her energy into each careful step. I even thought I heard her muttering "back, open, close" in time with the dance. Her concentrated expression was adorable.

"Relax," I told her again, "Just leave it to me." I reassuringly tightened my grip on her hand, trying to get her to just automatically follow my lead. Eventually, she relaxed enough that she felt she didn't need to constantly observe her foot steps.

She looked up at me, a little accusingly. "For someone who just learned this, you're awfully skilled.

I gave her a sheepish smile. "That is because I haven't just learned it. Part of Esme's raising-us-as-gentlemen strategy involved ballroom dancing. 'A gentleman should always be able to lead any dance with any lady, and do it well," I quoted in my best imitation of my adoptive mother, "'A gentleman's duty is to always make the lady feel graceful, beautiful, and respected, and that includes the dance."

Bella giggled. "Your adoptive mother sounds like my kind of gal."

"You two would get along," I said, "While she's all about keeping chivalry alive, she's also very adamant about women being independent."

"Hm," Bella pondered, "It sounds like you really love her."

"I'm very lucky."

"Do you—" She began, but cut herself off.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." She looked down, but this time, to avoid my gaze.

"What is it?" I repeated, frustrated again that she was so hard to read.

"It's just, well, I guess I was thinking about how Esme's your _adoptive_ mother," she spoke to the floor.

"Ah," I said, a pang in my chest at the memories it brought on. I did my best to distance myself from it, waiting for the wave to subside.

There was an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry," Bella said sincerely, "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's not your fault. It's only natural you're curious," I told her, used to the questions, though not the pain. "I guess, it's personal. Much like the back corner is personal to you." I did my best to smile, not quite succeeding.

Another awkward pause.

Trying to lighten the mood, I abruptly dipped her the next time she stepped back. She gasped.

"Come on," I said when I brought her back up, "This waltz is becoming boring."

I didn't give her a chance to respond as I lifted her a few inches and slid my toes under hers (I wasn't kidding about the steeled-toe boots). I started whirling, carrying her on my feet and pressing her closer to my chest. I heard her gasp again. Over her head, I saw Jasper grinning at me with Alice. I winked. He nodded back before taking my example and lifting Alice to his toes too (amusingly, she still only came up to the middle of his chest) and spun. I saw other classmates staring at us, and giving us a wide berth. Cyllis hadn't noticed yet, to busy with a pair that was having arguments on who would be the girl.

"Show off." I looked down to see Bella glaring at me, but there was a twinkle in her eye and her face was slightly flushed.

"You're having fun. Admit it," I pressed, grinning.

Her lips twitched, and the sparkling in her eyes became more pronounced.

"Well, well, Misters Cullen," Cyllis had noticed us now. "It seems you tow are more experienced than you let on."

"Esme made sure we became adept at this," Jasper said, still whirling.

"Of course. Dear Esme. I should have known she would raise her sons to be masters at the art of dance. Perhaps I should have Mr. Emmett's class do this as well…" she pondered, walking away.

I caught Jasper's eye, and we both snickered. While Emmett _could_ dance, he wasn't very good at anything this level. Especially when put in the spotlight.

I looked down to see Bella snickering too.

"What?"

"I can't imagine Rose letting someone lead her," she explained, still giggling.

I smiled. Rosalie did seem like that type.

"And, well, let's just say Emmett isn't as 'adept at this' as Jasper and I," I put in.

Bella looked up at me mischievously. "Should we warn them?"

We looked at each other a few more moments before going, "Nah."

**A/N: Well? I know, kinda boring, but we're focusing on developing the characters here. There's going to be a lot more EPOV, because right now, most of the mystery is around Bella, so please tell me what you think of my EPOVs!**

**Also, someone asked me if there'll be missions. Oh yes, there will. It's just moving a bit slow because it's the first day, and that's important. After this first day, things will move a lot quicker. I'm looking forward to this mission. Trust me, it will be A LOT of fun.**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I need your critique and comments! And I need your opinions on my new summary!  
**


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